The deadly

police chase that claimed the life of a Peachtree City man in July began

as Luthersville police officers investigated a minor traffic accident,

according to initial police reports.

Loraine McCrary

of Jonesboro was pulled over July 27 at 7:08 p.m. after witnesses said

her red Ford Explorer ran off the road and hit a stop sign in Luthersville,

according to police reports. But radio trouble forced the officer back

to his patrol unit, and McCrary dashed back into her vehicle, speeding

away and setting off the chain of events that ultimately killed Chuck

Vicha, according to reports.

McCrary pleaded

guilty to vehicular homicide in the first degree and was sentenced to

15 years in prison over three weeks ago. The Citizen reviewed the entire

prosecution case file under the Georgia Open Records Act to provide information

for this story.

When McCrary's

vehicle struck Vicha as he attempted to turn off Broken Bow Drive onto

Hwy. 54, she was travelling at approximately 94 miles per hour, according

to an extensive report prepared by the Georgia State Patrol's Specialized

Accident Reconstruction Team.

The report

noted that McCrary's brake lights activated briefly twice just before

the collision, but not enough to make a negligible difference in the speed

of her Explorer, which also carried her three children.

McCrary's blood

sample, taken over two hours after the accident, was .14 grams, well over

the legal limit for intoxication in Georgia, the report stated.

Chase

enters Fayette

After McCrary

put the slip on Luthersville Police Lt. Jason Smith, speeds of the pursuit

ranged between 80 and 120 mph, Smith noted in his report. Smith had an

early indication of McCrary's recklessness when she blew through the intersection

of hwys. 54 and 16 without bothering to slow down.

A video from

the camera of another patrol car shows the chase entering Peachtree City

on Hwy. 54, with McCrary using turn lanes to zoom past traffic and Smith's

vehicle behind her. Somehow, McCrary and Smith, along with a second Luthersville

unit, made it safely past a backed-up lane of eastbound traffic at the

bridge over the CSX railroad tracks.

McCrary then

turned into The Avenue at Peachtree City, and the video depicts Smith's

patrol car getting in front of McCrary's Explorer, but only briefly. He

stopped his unit in an attempt to halt McCrary, but she dodged around

him to the right as he tried to exit the patrol car.

McCrary sped

up again, her Explorer taking to the air briefly as the raised pedestrian

crosswalks became ramps. She then turned left, heading the wrong way down

The Avenue's traffic circle, nearly hitting another vehicle head on.

McCrary snaked

her way out of The Avenue and back onto Hwy. 54 heading east. The video

shows her brake suddenly in what could have been an attempt to crash the

pursuing Luthersville officer's car. Moments later, her Explorer veers

to the left, an apparent attempt to knock one of the Luthersville units

off course.

Meanwhile,

Peachtree City officers blocked off intersections to keep the public away

from the high-speed pursuit as it sped past Peachtree Parkway.

The GSP report

cites that action as a reason the chase reached higher speeds through

Peachtree City.

"This

blocking of traffic undoubtedly allowed the speed of the pursuit to increase

to speeds of greater than 100 mph," the report stated.

Peachtree City

Police Chief James Murray has defended his department's actions in the

chase, saying the department's first goal is to protect the public's safety.

Also, since there was so little warning of the chase entering Peachtree

City and because of the danger to other motorists due to moderate traffic

Peachtree City officers decided not to use "stop sticks" to

disable McCrary's car.

Murray says

at the high speeds the chase reached, the stop sticks could have caused

McCrary's vehicle to wreck, possibly endangering an innocent motorist.

Ultimately,

the wreck killed Vicha, who was returning from a brief shopping trip.

Murray used the incident to call for greater restrictions on police pursuits,

but Gov. Roy Barnes declined Murray's request to create state regulations

on the issue.

Fayette state

Sen. Mitch Seabaugh held a hearing on high speed police chases months

after the crash, and various law enforcement officials testified that

Georgia's police officers do not receive special training on how to safely

end police chases.

Georgia State

Patrol troopers, however, get more intensive training on special maneuvers

and tactics that can be used to resolve chases quickly and most times

safely, officials said at the hearing.

Seabaugh, who

sits on the senate's public safety committee, pledged to look into the

matter further.

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