News 12 at 6 o'clock, April 24, 2008

GA/SC -- One person is killed in a police chase everyday in the U.S. according to federal data.

In our area, high-speed pursuits have killed two people in two counties in the last year.

News 12 asked agencies on both sides of the river if either chase has led them to a change in their pursuit policy.

It was a chaotic scene on Augusta's Gordon Highway the night of March 2nd.

"Just to advise, the subjects are unresponsive and might need to be extricated from the vehicle," said one deputy to Richmond County's Dispatch.

It was the night Laura Felder, a mother of three, died. She was coming home after a dinner date with her boyfriend when she was hit by a teenager running from Richmond County deputies.

"It's tragic when something like that happens; we apologize to these people, but the blame is not ours," says Richmond County's Colonel Gary Powell.

And, the situation is not unique. According to the FBI, one in every 100 police pursuits ends in a deadly crash.

In Richmond County, any deputy can call a chase. Then, it's called into a supervisor and another unit is called in to tail the lead car and help serve as a lookout. At any point, a supervisor or the deputies involved can call the chase off for a number of reasons such as traffic conditions, weather conditions, and for crossing a Stateline.

It's basically the same policy across the river in North Augusta, where another deadly chase happened in June of 2007.

DashCam video captures the pursuit in action; four young men running from police and within minutes, a smoky and deadly end as the car careens into some woods.

Seventeen-year-old Coby Plowden was thrown from the car and died before anyone could help save him.

Officers say the 22-year-old driver was drunk.

Chases like these still get to North Augusta Police Chief Lee Wetherington, even after 32 years in law enforcement and 30 or so high speed chases of his own under his belt. "When someone does something as foolish as both of these incidents were, and they run from the police, look at everybody they jeopardized."

Families are devastated too. An eight-year national study from the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center found one third of all people killed in a pursuit were not in the fleeing vehicle, like Laura Felder.

"We have to pursue people, and if we don't, it's just going to be chaos in the county, criminals going to be running rampid everywhere," says Col. Powell.

But those pursuits come at a cost. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Georgia and South Carolina rank among the 10 most deadly states for police pursuits. Georgia ranks fifth, tied with Tennessee with 15 deaths in 2006. South Carolina ranks 10th, with 12 deaths.

"What we're pushing for are stronger penalties for people who choose to flee from police," says Chief Wetherington.

In South Carolina, fleeing carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail. If a deadly accident occurs during a chase, the max is 25 years.

In Georgia, fleeing can get you a maximum of 12 months in jail for a first offense. A deadly accident means anywhere from five years to life.

Chief Wetherington added, "If there were some real tough standards out there, people may think twice."

One thing either agency isn't thinking twice about is changing their pursuit policy.

"I will never support a policy of do not chase. I don't think the public wants us to have a policy of do not chase because the crimes are being committed against them," explains Chief Wetherington.

Colonel Powell says that is the same for Richmond County. "We're not going to let the criminals dictate what we do."

The Colonel says he's been in about 50 chases in his lifetime, including one where he crashed and could've been killed. Still though, his opinion does not waiver. "When you have a policy that says we're not going to pursue anybody and you get a call to a bank robbery and the bank robber is fleeing the scene at the time, and all you can do is waive goodbye to them because you can't chase them."

So for now, both agencies agree; anyone who is willing to run from police is not someone we need on our streets.

"Sometimes it's just a dangerous business and we do it as safely as we possibly can," concluded Chief Wetherington.

As for the deputy involved in the pursuit that ended in the crash that killed Laura Felder, Sheriff Ronnie Strength tells News 12 Deputy Anthony Gregory has been cleared of any wrongdoing by the Internal Affairs Division at the Sheriff's Office. A formal investigation should be completed in the next few months.