ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, April 23, 1996 TAG: 9604230136
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI AND LAURENCE HAMMACK STAFF WRITERS
NOTE: Lede
Roanoke County Police Chief John Cease on Monday defended his officers' high-speed pursuit of a suspect for nearly 15 miles, but apologized for the deadly results of the chase.
"I want to let the public know that our department does care, that we are concerned, and that we are sorry it happened," Cease said.
At 1:49 p.m. Sunday, Scott Allman sped away from a Roanoke County officer wanting to test his tinted car windows to determine if their darkness violated state law.
Seventeen minutes later, Allman rammed his car into another at Williamson and Plantation roads, killing a family of three. Thomas Faucher Jr., 34, and Lori Mason, 36, died at the scene. Their 6-week-old child, Joleen Faucher, died Monday morning at Community Hospital of Roanoke.
Shortly after he was treated at the hospital for minor injuries, Allman was charged with eluding police, driving with a suspended license and hit and run.
Monday, Roanoke County police added three counts of involuntary manslaughter to the list.
A police internal investigation found that Officer John McPhail, who initiated the pursuit, followed procedure, Cease said. But it also found that a dispatcher gave McPhail incorrect information about Allman's car, leading the officer to suspect it was stolen.
If McPhail had received accurate information, it is likely that the pursuit would have been called off sooner, because he would have been able to identify the car's owner, Lt. Gary Roche said.
But it is unclear where the incorrect information originated.
Monday, several witnesses and Allman's father were left to ask why police chased Allman so long for an apparently minor offense.
"As a citizen, I'm just totally appalled that someone could be chased clear across town for a tinted window and a suspended license," said Lewis Wills, who drove through the intersection seconds before the accident. "And now three people are dead. ... Something has got to be done to stop this."
Allman, whose long court record consists mostly of minor crimes and traffic offenses, had a history of running from police, according to both his father and a bail enforcement agent who had tried to track him down.
``[Police] knew Scott was a runner," said his father, Jimmie Allman of Roanoke. "They've had experiences where they've attempted to arrest him, and he's run and he's fought."
Given the fact that police knew Allman would probably flee at the first sight of flashing blue lights, his father wonders why they chased him so far and so fast.
"Had he killed anybody prior to that time?'' Jimmie Allman asked. "No. But they made him a murderer."
In fact, Scott Allman had eluded Roanoke County police two weeks before Sunday's crash.
Officer Timothy Miles, who was in the second patrol car pursuing Allman, had chased Allman on foot as he and McPhail were serving a warrant, Cease said. That time, police caught and arrested him.
Officers recognized Allman's name Sunday once a dispatcher gave them accurate information about his car.
During any police pursuit, an officer and his supervisor must decide whether the safety of those involved and of bystanders outweighs the need to make an arrest, Cease said.
"It's easy for myself and my administration to second-guess ... to sit back and say [we] think this or that," he said. "But the police can't operate that way. I have to be careful to look at it through the eyes of those there ... and to reduce the chance of this happening again."
This is how events unfolded Sunday, according to Cease:
McPhail and Miles were checking with radar for speeders on U.S. 220, Franklin Road, south of Clearbrook Elementary School.
McPhail saw Allman pull into the lot where McPhail had parked his patrol car. Allman stopped behind a truck and remained in the car, with his wife, Linda Allman.
McPhail pulled onto southbound U.S. 220 and Allman followed shortly thereafter, passing the officer. When McPhail noticed the dark tint on Allman's car windows, he attempted to stop him.
Allman pulled off the road, but then sped away as the officer stopped behind him. He made a U-turn across the median, accelerating north on 220. McPhail alerted Miles, who was about five miles south.
Allman sped north, with McPhail and Miles in pursuit.
McPhail read a dispatcher the license tag of the 1987 Dodge Aries. The return information from the dispatcher did not match the car's description, leading McPhail to suspect the car was stolen, Cease said.
The Roanoke County department alerted Roanoke and state police about the chase, which neared 90 mph on Interstate 581. One Roanoke officer joined the pursuit. Allman exited onto eastbound Hershberger Road, driving through a red light at Florist Road.
By this time, the Roanoke officer had been unable to turn onto the Hershberger exit and Miles had lost sight of the chase. But McPhail had kept up with Allman until stopping for the red light at Florist Road, Cease said.
As four cars waited at a red light at Hershberger and Plantation roads, Allman grazed one of them and turned left onto Plantation.
McPhail called in the accident and rounded the corner. A dispatcher asked him to confirm Allman's tag number. He did, and the dispatcher gave him Allman's name and address, Cease said.
"It was the first time McPhail had any idea he knew who he was pursuing and that the tag fit the car's description," Cease said. "Miles recognized the name, got on his radio and told McPhail it was the same guy he chased on foot" two weeks ago.
McPhail had just rounded the bend at Boxley Road when he heard Miles. He slowed to 25 mph, Cease said.
Allman was only three-tenths of a mile ahead. McPhail saw him run the red light at Plantation and Williamson roads and then crash into Faucher's car.
"We don't know the suspect's speed," Cease said. "But there were minimal skidmarks, which means the suspect made no attempt to stop."
Allman's father said his son has suffered from psychological problems since birth and was scared of going back to jail because an inmate had threatened him sexually.
"He was scared to death," said Jimmie Allman, who spoke to his son by phone at the Roanoke County/Salem Jail on Monday afternoon. Scott Allman expressed remorse about what happened, his father said, and said he did not realize that he was putting lives in danger when he sped off.
"He's just crying all over the place," his father said. "He thinks that everybody hates him now and that nobody cares."
Paul Holt, a Roanoke bail enforcement agent who had been looking for Allman at the time of the accident, agreed that the 21-year-old was known for running from authorities.
Allman once said he would kill himself before he went back to jail, Holt said. "He is a boy that just don't like to be locked up."
Holt recalled that last month he arrested Allman at his Campbell Avenue bail bonding business. In handcuffs and leg shackles, Allman bolted into traffic and was almost hit by a car, Holt said.
Allman was to appear in Roanoke General District Court next month on charges of petty larceny and trespassing. He has been charged with failing to appear in court at least five times in Roanoke. His traffic violations include convictions for speeding, driving on a suspended license and disregarding a red light.
"He's not going out there with a knife or a gun," his father said. "He's just a mixed-up kid who doesn't know who he is and where he wants to go."
LENGTH: Long : 136 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: (headshot) Cease. color. Graphic: Map by staff: Trackingby CNBthe chase. color. KEYWORDS: FATALITY