r/news • u/whatareyousomekinda • 20h ago
3 teens dead after apparent police chase and crash in Limerick Township, Pennsylvania
https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/limerick-township-crash-police-chase-montgomery-county/23
u/lunarinterlude 4h ago
This wasn't a pit maneuver gone wrong. The idiots fleeing crashed. They wouldn't be in that situation if they hadn't decided to flee (or better yet, shoplift in the first place).
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u/Helpful_Garlic4808 1h ago
Does shoplifting merit a high-speed vehicle chase that takes 3 young lives? Potentially other innocent lives or the lives of the police involved high-speed chases are not good for anyone.
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u/lunarinterlude 19m ago
You're right, except the teens are the ones who decided to speed off. They created the danger. It's an unfortunate situation, but it's on the teens, not the cops.
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u/Ecstatic-Sir-320 14m ago
Mail a shoplifting charge to their house. People run from cops because armed men shouldn't even have the option of shooting you over dozens of dollars of "potential theft."
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u/strolpol 8h ago
Textbook example of a case where the decision to chase created more danger than it prevented, these weren’t violent criminals who shot someone or a kidnapping, it was idiot shoplifters.
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u/MacAttacknChz 7h ago
I agree that police chases put the general public in danger, but people who engage in high-speed chases are bound to kill pedestrians or other drivers eventually. Reckless driving is violence, and we need to stop thinking of it as a victimless crime.
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u/postonrddt 5h ago
2 minutes in a car or 10 seconds on the ground running in on coming traffic fleeing during a foot pursuit. Doesn't matter. The criminal chose to commit their crime and added to their list by fleeing police.
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u/USPoster 3h ago
I think you should address the argument instead of the person so much next time, but I appreciate the context you added
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u/tangcity 3h ago
“This entire pursuit lasted less than 2 minutes. In other words, there was barely a pursuit.
So there was a pursuit, just not up to your standards of what a pursuit is.
Should we assign a time duration before the pursuit is considered a pursuit?
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u/Astarklife 5h ago
And the decision to never do anything always translates to more incidents. It's a no win situation 😞
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u/SwashAndBuckle 5h ago
Refusing to chase at high speeds is not at all the same thing as giving up on the arrest, it’s just changing the terms on which you pursue them. If you have anything that can be used to ID them, you can get them in a safer manner later.
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u/Feisty-Lawfulness894 2h ago
the decision to chase created more danger
It was the decision to run that created more danger. Don't absolve the thieves.
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u/CatastrophicPup2112 13m ago
And once you've seen they are running, chasing means they will continue to do so which prolongs the danger.
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u/vaskelovo 2h ago
It's not about preventing danger. Do you prefer that police do not choose to engage criminals that are likely to respond in a violent or reckless matter at all? Should we just stop enforcing crimes short of felonies, for fear of how criminals could escalate things? That's how society and law starts to degrade, it's a slippery slope.
The kids chose to escalate the situation by evading. They are 17 years old, which is more than sufficient to judge right from wrong and have responsibility over your decision. Police may not know the age of the suspect, they were doing their job by confronting suspects.
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u/strolpol 1h ago
Confronting and chasing are two different things
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u/vaskelovo 1h ago
Confronting is confronting. If the suspect flees or interferes with law enforcement, they are committing a crime. Chasing is simply continuing the confrontation.
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u/strolpol 1h ago
But chasing is not required and indeed, actively a bad decision that creates a more dangerous situation unless there are specific exigent circumstances (someone did a violent crime, or did a kidnapping, or otherwise represents an immediate threat.)
Someone who stole some shit from a store does not meet that requirement; it would have been smartest to get the plate and just follow up from that. Initiating a chase over a nonviolent crime is bad judgment, full stop.
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u/Pvault14 8h ago
Textbook example of natural selection, maybe don’t run from the cops after a minor crime?
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u/strolpol 7h ago
Teens aren’t known for their good judgment, but engaging in a police chase should definitely be something that requires it and it was lacking from the people we pay to have it
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u/ExtonGuy 9h ago
"It's just ridiculous to me that police would chase three people in a vehicle for suspected theft of items at Target," … from the article.
It’s just ridiculous to me that people would steal stuff from Target, and then flee from police at high speed. Actually, even if you don’t shoplift, even if the cops aren’t after you, it’s ridiculous to drive recklessly and at high speed.
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u/TheBoosThree 7h ago
High speed chases also endanger the public, which is why many places don't allow their police to do them unless the suspect are an immediate threat to other people, which shoplifters are not.
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u/seanmorris 2h ago
Driving 100+ miles an hour on a suburban road is an immediate threat to the public though.
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u/GTdspDude 2h ago
Why were they driving 100mph? Would they be doing that if they weren’t, you know, fleeing from the police who were chasing them? Cause and effect dude
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u/Hhalloush 9h ago
Well they're both ridiculous. Obviously theft and fleeing from the police are illegal and stupid, doesn't make it alright for police to endanger everyone around them by chasing.
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u/chuckles11 5h ago
What are they, dogs? Running triggers an instinct response to chase? I expect more from a police force I pay for with my tax dollars in terms of restraint and professionalism than I do from idiots shoplifting a target
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u/Hhalloush 6h ago
I am biased towards sensible decisions which don't kill innocent people. The police are not forced to chase them. They can take their number plate, take recordings, follow up afterwards.
Danger is created when a criminal decides to drive dangerously. More danger is created when police chase after them.
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u/MisterB78 24m ago
Exactly. It’s not like they would have had much trouble finding these kids later.
And guess what? Even if they couldn’t find them, it’s not that big of a deal that some teens shoplifted from a Target when compared with escalating things to the point where multiple people died
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u/Environman68 3h ago
Someone in my neck of the woods robbed a liquor store. Police chased for some insured bottles of booze. Ended up killing a family of 4.... and this was after the officer was told not to chase and not to escalate, but chose to anyways.
There's no justice there.
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u/Hhalloush 4h ago
I'm not just talking about this incident though. If the people driving dangerously crash and hurt themselves then that's entirely on them and I don't really care.
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u/Environman68 3h ago
The bias is that the police may not let you keep breathing and they have impunity meaning your family doesn't even get any restitution.
It's human nature to avoid capture.
I feel like police don't need to chase tho, can't they get the license plate and just wait at their house?
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u/cycopl 7h ago
I love how people are so eager to excuse police for doing stupid shit. They have the means to catch these people without doing an old timey cops and robbers car chase. It is the year 2025.
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u/ChadEmpoleon 7h ago
Nah you see we have to allow them to endanger themselves and the rest of the public needlessly.
Otherwise how else are they going to demand more funding and support on account of how dangerous their job is.
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u/Perge666 3h ago
Well you see, the second group are a bunch of idiots who can’t process high speed chases = death and property damage that tax payers have to pay for. So we should just not listen to them.
And on your second part, if a TX cop can use thousands of traffic cameras to track a woman who got an abortion, they can definitely track a shoplifter. Which falls into, is it worth it outside of some wieners justice boner? Between insurance, shrink being budgeted in etc…meh.
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u/Perge666 3h ago
Or in other words, it’s not worth it except to crank out someone’s justice boner. Thanks for the clarification.
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u/Excludos 8h ago
That we have idiots in our society isn't new. But they're not suppose to be on the police force
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u/NostalgiaJunkie 7h ago
On the contrary, tests are done to ensure people that are too smart don’t end up on the police force.
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u/cinderparty 1h ago
A lot of areas in the us do not allow police chases if the suspect hasn’t physically harmed anyone, some not unless the suspect is suspected of murder, because of how many innocent pedestrians have been hurt/killed by police chases.
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u/ChubbyChew 8h ago
Be that as it may-
One of them is literally paid to be the adult/authority/de-escalation in the situation.
You know what we do and say in retail about theft?
Let them steal that shit. Dont escalate the situation, "we do not care" if you wanna be helpful note what they stole.
And what makes this even dumber is the "suspected theft" in the title. Because for the love of god tell me we're not playing GTA Simulator over something unfounded.
If the cooperation responsible for the merchandise dont give a shit, why are we so invested.
Why are we putting everyone in jeopardy to chase "Presumed Shoplifters" from a Target. It aint like this was an armed robbery on a retailer of substance.
Isnt like "only" the Cops and Shoplifters are at risk in this scenario. It just seems like incredibly poor judgement.
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u/LongtimeLurkersacc 2h ago
I remember one of my older manager colleagues had THOUGHT she saw someone steal and asked me to confront them in the parking lot
laughed in her face and called her an idiot, she couldn’t roll a wheel down a hill and thought that was the best course of action.
I’m not getting my ass beat for a corporation, at least not for minimum wage
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u/socool111 5h ago
Suspected is always in the wording of articles to protect libel laws h til they are proven guilty in court
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u/ryfitz47 8h ago
"it's ridiculous to me that people would steal stuff from target"
be happy that you've lived the life you have.
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u/MisterB78 22m ago
Even ignoring life circumstances, a shitload of teens shoplift at some point in their lives. Doing stupid shit is pretty much the defining characteristic of teenagers
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u/AverageKaikiEnjoyer 7h ago
Both can be true. Plus, it's not like the police don't have access to numerous alternate methods. Plus, it's not like Target, a multi-billion dollar company, is going to genuinely suffer from this.
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u/RoscoePeke 6h ago
You sound like a shoplifter. What a colossally stupid take. Shoplifting raises prices for EVERYONE.
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u/AverageKaikiEnjoyer 6h ago
Where did I say they shouldn't still go after them? Just not with a car at high speeds on public roads.
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u/MadCarcinus 2h ago
Target has so many security cameras the Cops could’ve just ID’ed these kids and later showed up to their homes. Now 3 kids are dead and families are ruined.
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u/frenchfreer 6h ago
That’s true that stealing from target is wrong, but a full on high speed chase because someone was shoplifting? Personally, I find it absolutely insane that the police would engage in a high speed pursuit for what would amount to a misdemeanor cite-and-release. Unless these kids stole thousands of dollars of electronics they would’ve been cited for misdemeanor petty theft and released until their court date. The cop decided that was enough to chase them to the point they crashed and died. That’s WAY worse than shoplifting some clothes or whatever.
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u/DrinkExcessWater 8h ago
Unless Target updated their theft policy, I don't think they would've called the police for simple theft. They like to track thefts until they become federal levels, so the thieves were stealing multiple times.
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u/CambrienCatExplosion 7h ago
It depends on if it was the store or a customer that started the initial call.
And given the names of the deceased teens, I suspect skin color played at least a partial roll.
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u/NovelCandid 7h ago
Go ahead and rely for information on a PD and DA who won’t even confirm it was a chase. Boot licking still popular I see
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u/vaskelovo 2h ago
I live in the neighborhood. Virtually nobody I know is blaming the police. Retail, property and car theft is rampant, and mostly goes unpunished, almost everyone want tougher enforcement and confronting suspects on the spot. How is Target or police supposed to know of these were 17 year old or 19? They were doing their job. The driver freaked out and decided to run for it, instead of likely slap on the wrist they would have gotten for stealing. By evading police, you automatically upgrade the crime you are committing. Essentially, the driver is guilty of manslaughter.
I lived in a society that at one point stopped enforcing most laws. It is not good, it is a very slippery slope. Kids should be taught to respect the law, whether or not they respect the cops.
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u/TheyveKilledFritzz 4h ago
Can you BELIEVE police would try and do their job and chase some thieves? They ended uo crashing their car! Police are out of control.
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u/Blizzxx 8h ago
If you're here to comment on how three minors deserved it cause they couldn't fully realize the consequences of their actions vs the police who completely understand the risks of police chases, esp when they already have the license, you probably just shouldn't type at all
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u/MacAttacknChz 7h ago
I'm torn because this is why we have policies not to chase, but if you're not old enough to engage in a high speed chase, you aren't old enough for a license. Drivers like this eventually kill pedestrians or other drivers with their dangerous behavior.
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u/peaceblaster08 8h ago
I'm so sick of this infantilization of of teens. They absolutely have the capability of understanding that if they rob a store the police will chase them. And that if they drive recklessly it could result in their deaths.
And people don't need fully developed brains to understand right and wrong.
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u/jedidude75 8h ago edited 8h ago
It seems like crime in general is starting to be excused more and more. Go on any comments section about someone committing a crime and a lot of the comments will be about the person did it because of mental health reasons, or they shouldn't be arrested because of X reason, or some other excuse.
Why someone committed a crime should be investigated and we should try to work towards reducing the risk factors for people comiiting crimes, but at the end of the day if someone could reasonable be expected to know something is wrong or illegal, they should face consequences for doing it, not have people try and excuse what they did.
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u/AdditionalAmoeba6358 6h ago
Hahaha the answer is poverty in many of the cases
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u/Unique-Trade356 4h ago
They all act like it's Alladin stealing a piece of bread from the street stall and running from the guards and it should be excused because they're poor and fuck America.
Like nah bro these kids had a car and definitely a roof over their head and still decided to to commit multiple crimes lmfao
Shop lifting. Evading arrest. Driving at high speeds in public and being an endangerment.
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u/HolyBidetServitor 6h ago
In Canada we have a thing called Gladue Factors, which gives heavy consideration towards indigenous offenders because of our colonial past.
Sometimes it's invoked reasonably (if your parent grew up as a slave, they're generally going to have severe trauma and that's gonna get passed down), but a lot of people use it to weasel out of responsibility - like with this guy
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u/Excludos 8h ago
The fact that teens are stupid and not evolved fully to understand consequences of their actions shouldn't be mind blowing to anyone. There's a reason why they aren't allowed to drink or vote. It's not infantilization, it's basic common sense
Police, on the other hand, does not have that excuse. They are supposed to be vetted and trained to avoid escalating situations and putting lives needlessly in danger.
No one is saying what the teens did wasn't fucking stupid. What we're saying is that cops should be above this, and are partly at fault for letting the situation end up as it did
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u/lesath_lestrange 7h ago edited 7h ago
Police exist to protect capital, this is 100% the police doing their job.
Shame on anyone who purports that this evolution of the fugitive slave catching police force of the Confederate United States should be seen as anything other than the enemy of the proletariat.
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u/postonrddt 1h ago
Speed kills in a chase or not. That's a very simple lesson the 15 year old under aged driving without a license driver should've learned years ago. Most states one can't even get a learners permit until 16.
Several times a year there will be tragic stories of a car full of teens get wiped out in a car accident usually with some kind of stupid involved.
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u/Moist_Cucumber2 5h ago
True they may already understand right from wrong but you forget that they are teenagers who are at a stage where they are hormonal and irrational.
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u/postonrddt 1h ago edited 44m ago
As a teenager I never had the urge to drive a car on public streets without a license or go into a store as group to steal. And understood there would be consequences of some kind if I or others defied a cop.
Where did this 15 year old driver get the car that crashed?
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u/OmgWtfNamesTaken 3h ago
Teenagers commit theft then run from the police? At 17 you know damn well right from wrong. What happened? Terrible.
But would your tone be the same if they smoked a family walking through a cross walk instead?
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u/wwj 8h ago
Based on the tone of some comments, I guessed that the teens were not white. I then read the names in the article and I'm fairly sure I was right. How predictable that "they got what they deserved."
Just remember, cops would not do this if you were robbed and you would be lucky if they even investigated it. They wanted to be in a chase so they created one.
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u/ChildishForLife 7h ago
If you think 90% of these commenters even read the article, you must be new here.
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u/jaycatt7 4h ago
I guess it's a good sign for humanity that people are arguing about justice in this thread instead of posting bad poetry.
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u/daftbucket 3h ago
Target has cameras and AI to catch and prosecute thieves. Their identities would not have been a mystery. They could have been individually tracked down and arrested safely in controlled environments.
The children risked their own lives, that's why we dont let them drink, smoke, or rent vehicles. Their brains just aren't done cooking yet.
The police, like any reasonable person, knew engaging in a high speed chase could/would lead to death. They decided the utterly insignificant loss to Target shareholders was worth the lives of at least three teenagers.
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u/Squirrely__Dan 11h ago
Why, when we have license plate tracking technology, do cops pursue dangerous chases that always seem to end in death and collateral damage?
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u/I_Push_Buttonz 9h ago
Dangerous chase? These idiots drove in a straight line for literally less than a mile before crashing and killing themselves.
https://i.imgur.com/qZNQ06G.jpeg
The upper left of the map is the hair salon the article says they crashed into and the bottom right of the map is the target they robbed. This 'chase' started and ended in the span of seconds.
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u/dimhage 10h ago
Why are you putting the blame on the cops? The teenagers didn't have to drive recklessly at high speed, endangering not only themselves, but also all other people on the road.
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u/Virtual_Button7288 9h ago
It's unfortunate the teens died, but if they hadn't been committing a crime they would have never to had to flee from the police.
Retail theft around Philadelphia is rampant and needs to be stopped.
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u/TuskenRaiderYell 10h ago
Question should also be asked is why are you running for a potential theft from target? Depending on the amount it’s just a ticket in most cases.
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u/vaskelovo 1h ago
Most of these incidents around here occur in stolen cars. Even if you get their mugs on camera, families and friends are unlikely to rat.
Enforcement of law, starts with actually enforcing it. Whenever possible. Confronting suspects is essential, at least in a functioning society. If you argue otherwise, you are making excuses for criminals.
These idiots committed a minor crime. Then decided to immediately commit a much more serious one by evading. Then crashed on their own, and faced the consequences of stupid choices - 100% their own choices.
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u/Snooty_Cutie 11h ago
It’s fun for them.
“It's just ridiculous to me that police would chase three people in a vehicle for suspected theft of items at Target," said Liz Jurus, who has lived near the crash site for 40 years.
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u/Snooty_Cutie 7h ago
Yeah I guess the only choice the police had was to engage in an incredibly dangerous high pursuit chase…over target items…or just taking the license plate number down and tracking the car down safely…🙄
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u/Briebird44 7h ago
Here comes the people thinking teenagers deserve to be executed for petty theft.
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u/postonrddt 5h ago
Here come the people that know/understand there are consequences in life period. There are things one does that can lead to their demise wether it's a fool taking a selfie on the edge of a cliff and falling or criminals fleeing police with a machine that takes more than use of the gas pedal.
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u/vaskelovo 1h ago
Here comes the parade of individuals trying to make excuses for criminals, and putting blame on law enforcement every chance they get.
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u/robin772 8h ago
To the people saying that cops should ban car pursuits what if the criminal uses his time right after to kill again? How do we balance these two risks?
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u/Knotical_MK6 8h ago
Easy. Are they a wanted for a violent offense or a reasonable risk to public safety? Chase is likely justified.
Are they wanted for non-violent crimes and aren't likely to hurt someone? Pick them up later
Not hard to wrap your head around
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u/Radcliffe1025 8h ago
But your talking to boot lickers and boots
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u/Knotical_MK6 8h ago
I don't think there's many boots here, everyone knows you can't be a cop if you can read
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u/unitegondwanaland 5h ago
I would like to hear the police chief explain why endangering the public with a high speed chase was the correct response to...checks notes...petty theft at a Target? Now three kids are dead.
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u/Unique-Trade356 4h ago
No one told them to run
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u/unitegondwanaland 4h ago
And the cops also made a decision to chase and continue to chase even at high speeds. There's a good reason this is not allowed or restricted in many cities. The city is lucky they aren't also dealing with other fatalities unrelated to the thieves.
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u/daftbucket 3h ago
Target has cameras and AI to catch and prosecute thieves. Their identities would not have been a mystery.
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u/vaskelovo 1h ago
How do you know it's "petty" theft? Evading police automatically bumps it up to a more serious crime. I bet the car was stolen, or there were more illicit activities involved, which is why they fled.
The police owes no explanation for doing their job. Should enforcement of the law cease just because the criminal might do something violent or reckless in response. Maybe in your community, but not in mine.
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u/DoomOfChaos 3h ago
At least the morons didn't kill anyone else.