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BOOK 108 PAGE 37
<br />AZ Press Journal Thursday, December 31, 1998
<br />Second park officer chases car in .county.
<br />BI► TIM YeADoB
<br />Preva Journal Start Writer
<br />A Winter Park man was pur-
<br />sued by a Florida Park Patrol offi-
<br />cer from Brevard County 16 miles .
<br />into Vero Beach Tuesday night.
<br />This was the agency's second pur-
<br />suit this week in Indian River
<br />County.
<br />Wieslaw A. Piorkowski, 25,
<br />2500 Howell Branch Road No.
<br />250, was arrested in, Vero Beach
<br />on State Road AIA at 17th Street
<br />after FPP Officer James Johnson
<br />allegedly spotted him s�ppeieddin�
<br />south across the Brevard/Indian
<br />River county line. Piorkowski was
<br />charged with fleeing or attempting
<br />to elude a law-enforcement officer
<br />and booked into the Indian River
<br />County Jail with $500 bail.
<br />Piorkowski was trailed into
<br />Vero Beach after the state park of-
<br />ficer allegedly clocked him at 9:41
<br />p m.driving past Sebastian Inlet
<br />State Park at 69 mph, 24 mph over
<br />the speed limit. The officer tried to
<br />stop the Winter Park man repeat-
<br />edly, first with his emergency,
<br />Wftu",um wen
<br />lights, then with a siren from the
<br />county line, as the two wound
<br />down S.R. AIA through Indian
<br />River Shores and into Vero Beach,
<br />an affidavit filed by the FPP said.
<br />The 'total distance traveled Was
<br />16.6 miles in the 17 minute chase,
<br />during which Piorkowski remained
<br />at or 'near the speed limit -and
<br />obeyed all road signs, the report
<br />said.
<br />Piorkowski was finally stopped
<br />at 9:58 p.m. near East Causeway
<br />Boulevard when Vero Beach police
<br />officers, alerted to the*slow-speed
<br />chase, threw' stop sticks in his
<br />path, the report said. Piorkowski
<br />stopped before driving over the
<br />cured -puncturing sticks, the report
<br />Park Patrol oiliciall acknowl-
<br />edge it's not common for the aoen-
<br />cy s officers to participate in inci-
<br />dents like this, which are not
<br />considered "pursuits" by FPP but
<br />instead "attempts to stop" fleeing
<br />suspects, said Ca t. Barry Davis.
<br />If iif unusual," Davis said. "It
<br />doesn't normally happen. Nor-
<br />mally, when an officer turns on the
<br />lights and siren somebody stops.!'
<br />This is the second incident this
<br />week in which an FPP officer ini-
<br />tially failed to stop a car suspected
<br />of committing a traffic infractidn.
<br />Monday morning, an FPP officer
<br />chased a Cocoa Beach man do
<br />U.S. 1 at speeds topping 107 mr
<br />That incident began when the man
<br />allegedly ran a stop sign and ended
<br />when he crashed into a pond on
<br />Schumann Drive in Sehasnan. w
<br />A10 Press Journal Tuesday, January S. 1999
<br />"Give light and the people will find their own way."
<br />e 30urnall
<br />FOUNDED 1919 _
<br />Editorials
<br />J.F. Schumann 11865 -INS).. ...........................
<br />....... ... Founder
<br />J.J. Schumann 11696.19891.........................................Founder
<br />refuse to call a Park Servio:e
<br />+ patrolman's reckless pursuit of a man at speeds
<br />reaching 107 mph what it really was: a chase?
<br />J J. Schumann Jr ..... .........................
<br />Publisher Emeritus
<br />Darryl K Hicks ..........................
<br />PresidttmlGeneral Manager
<br />LarryReisman..............................................."...............Editor
<br />I�
<br />Eric Garman .............. _ .................
<br />__.Opinion Page Editor
<br />i
<br />SUBSCRIPTION RATES
<br />meats that Knowles wasn't going to cooperate, and
<br />the chase should have stopped. Knowles wasn't sus-
<br />pected of being violent, which would justify
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<br />No exc use for chase
<br />I Officials with the Department of Environtnenw
<br />Protection's law-enforcement division must think the
<br />I people of Indian River County are very stupid.
<br />Why else would they
<br />his accident.
<br />"I don't know how you would call that anything
<br />other than a pursuit," Indian River County Under
<br />refuse to call a Park Servio:e
<br />+ patrolman's reckless pursuit of a man at speeds
<br />reaching 107 mph what it really was: a chase?
<br />sheriff Jim Davis said. Sheriffs officials said last
<br />week that the planned to discuss the incident with
<br />DEP's law-enforcement division.
<br />I Here's what happened:
<br />I Shortly after midnight on Dec. 28, Park Servicds
<br />Officer John Beasley noticed Bobby Knowles of W'-
<br />Beasley's dangerous police work is intolerable
<br />and may have violated the DEP's own policy not t,
<br />chase nonviolent
<br />basso run a stop sign near a gas station at 85th Placl:.
<br />Beasley followed for a few blocks and then turned
<br />offenders. Not only was Knowles
<br />hurt, other innocent motorists or pedestrians might
<br />o!n
<br />his patrol car's flashing lights, but instead of pulling
<br />over. Knowles sped away.
<br />have been hurt or killed, especially if the chase had
<br />come at a busier time of day.
<br />i It should have been clear after only a few m4D-
<br />i
<br />Forgive us forbeing sensitive.
<br />In 1994, three children and a woman were killee
<br />meats that Knowles wasn't going to cooperate, and
<br />the chase should have stopped. Knowles wasn't sus-
<br />pected of being violent, which would justify
<br />in an accident involving a man being pursued by an
<br />Indian River County Sheriffs Office deputy at speed -
<br />I a chase.
<br />I But Beasley, switching to Hollywood -cop mode;,
<br />continued to pursue at high speeds, endangering hire-
<br />of 100 mph in Vero Beach. That led to a wise county -
<br />wide agreement among local law-enforcement agen-
<br />cies to conduct high-speed chases only when
<br />Iself, Knowles and whoever else might have been On
<br />the road at the time — all because of a minor trafiis
<br />violent
<br />offenders were involved. The DEP never signed that
<br />violation.
<br />The chase ended when Knowles crashed into a
<br />agreement.
<br />Three things should happen now.
<br />First, the DEP must stop mincing words 'fes,
<br />pond off Schumann Drive. About four minutes
<br />elapsed between the time Beasley started the chases
<br />I and the
<br />and
<br />up to what happened with Knowles. It was a high.
<br />chase. and the DEP's lame spin-doctonne
<br />crash. Only after the crash did authorities
<br />learn that the truck Knowles was driving had beton
<br />won't change that. Next, disciplinary action against
<br />Beasley should be explored. Finally. DEP
<br />I' stolen and that he was wanted in Martin County fear
<br />a misdemeanor battery charge.
<br />official,
<br />must enter into the agreement already existing among
<br />local law-enforcement agencies that
<br />DEP Maj. James McCallister said Beasley w as
<br />merely following a speeder, not chasing him. Fo ur
<br />so these kinds of
<br />incidents are less likely to occur again.
<br />Park Service officers working in Indian River
<br />minutes, however, is an awfully long time Just to poll
<br />over someone, especially at those speeds.
<br />Plus. Knowles made several
<br />County must learn that protecting innocent people
<br />from harm is more important than roundin u
<br />g P pen
<br />evasive turns hefn re
<br />ple who run .tor st!.ns,
<br />JANUARY 5, 1999
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