Published:  July 23, 2007

As they inevitably will, another high-speed chase by law enforcement has ended in the senseless death of a driver who had done nothing wrong.

James Williamson, a 66-year-old Goshen man, was killed when a truck fleeing police from Florida and Alabama struck his car at the intersection of Cottonwood Highway and Saunders Road. He’d been to Marianna to visit his wife and was unwittingly in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now his family — his wife, his mother, two sons, five grandchildren, three sisters and a brother — have a funeral to plan and a long road of mourning and heartache ahead.

Why?

Because Philip Lutz didn’t stop his truck when a patrol car attempted to pull him over in Jackson County, Fla. Lutz, who has two felony warrants for eluding police, took off. His action endangered his two passengers and everyone else on the road. He was chased through Florida by Jackson County officers and into Alabama, where Houston County sheriff’s deputies and Dothan police took up the chase.

Although officers attempted to disable Lutz’s vehicle with spike strips that would damage his vehicle’s tires, Lutz first drove around the strips and, after striking one, continued on until he collided with Williamson’s vehicle.

Certainly some believe it’s easy to “play Monday morning quarterback” and question the decisions made by police during the pursuit. However, this incident took the life of one completely innocent man and had the potential to injure or kill others, including police officers, Lutz’s passengers and any other motorist unfortunate enough to cross the path of the pursuit.

Every law enforcement agency involved must give this tragedy a full investigation, along with a thorough review of each department’s policies regarding pursuits. Lutz had outstanding warrants; however, the nature of those warrants should be taken into account. Police had his vehicle description and tag number, and presumably knew who he was and where he could be found.

Might police have called off the chase and arrested Lutz later? Might they have dispatched officers to cross streets to ensure the safety of other drivers? Would a blockade of police vehicles have stopped the speeding driver?

Every police pursuit draws more questions than answers, and almost every pursuit has a common trait — more often than not, they end in a crash, accompanied by injury or death. Eliminating police pursuits is not the answer; those sought by the law would simply run knowing they won’t be chased.

However, a more intelligent approach is desperately needed. Perhaps changing the law to make the consequences of eluding police as serious as the consequences of killing someone while fleeing would serve as a deterrent.

Had something deterred Lutz, he would not be charged with murder and the family of James Williamson would still have their loved one.