Three vehicles involved in Wednesday-afternoon accident

Deputy Kyle Lee was totally at fault!! He was speeding down Walnut St. westbound, which is the wrong way on a one-way street. His lights and sirens didn't come on until he approached the Vine & Walnut intersection and he wasn't able to stop for over half a block despite hitting two more parked cars. The wall at the Vine St parking lot was damaged and that was from across a six foot wide sidewalk! Putnam Co and their insurance company had better be prepared to write big checks. The red car in the picture above was a parked car that was facing west in their parking spot and ended up facing northeast after being spun around more than 180 degrees. Can you say "hot dog" about our deputy? Good thing his canine wasn't hurt, as he was in the vehicle.

I believe it was way more than 3 vehicles--like double that. No mention in the caption to the picture that it involved Deputy Kyle Lee and the B/G waited until his vehicle was towed to take the picture. His car took out the red car in the picture and was resting up against it once he finally came to a stop. How fast do you have to be going on a downtown street to hit a car at the Vine/Walnut St intersection, hit multiple cars and finally come to a stop at the west end of the Post Office? That is over half a block!!

It appears that this was an unfortunate chain of events. It sounds as if this criminal put many people at risk to continue his quest to remain a free felon, roaming our streets without any regard for the law or the general public. Law enforcement is an inherently dangerous job and although I am thankful no one was seriously injured, these situations seem to remind us of the risks our first responders are faced with on a daily basis. I believe that we have some of the most professional and well trained officers in the state. High speed pursuits are one of the most dangerous situations that police can be involved in. I guess based on the picture alone, I’m not sure how the above comments were generated.

@rosco&ginger:

Were you a witness to the accident and did you fill out a statement about it? Are you an accident reconstructionist and know for a fact that this was the exact sequence of events as you described? Were there actually six vehicles involved in this accident? (“I believe it was way more than three vehicles-like double that”) I think that “three vehicles” by “double that” equals “six”. Please correct my math if I’m wrong as it was not one of my strongest subjects, nor was explaining to the police how to do their jobs. One last point, Deputy Lee’s vehicle appears to be parked directly behind the red vehicle you described in the above photo. Now I’m definitely suspicious of your capabilities to correctly reconstruct an accident scene or report your findings to the Banner Graphic. Please do not spread your police-hating rhetoric before knowing the whole story. By the way, am I addressing “Rosco” or “Ginger”? So many questions...

Caesar (@et2Bruto), since you want to get into the weeds...

First, you shouldn't call the fugitive in question a felon. (Unless you know of him and are aware of a prior conviction which is not mentioned in either article.)

To be a felon, one must be convicted of a felony.

There is a big difference between being charged and being convicted.

Carrying a handgun without a license: Class A misdemeanor.

Residential Entry: Level 6 felony. (Lowest level)

Fleeing from the police: Class A misdemeanor - Level 2 felony (depending on circumstances)

Is he a bad guy? Sure, and likely deserves to go to jail.

But he is entitled to process, even if you don't like it.

As for the crash itself: I would say 25% bad luck and 75% bad policing.

Going the wrong way down a one-way street at a high rate of speed is foolish. Even if you are a police officer. Because the odds of "this" happening are increased greatly. Even more so if, as R&G states, the police officer does not run lights and sirens the entire time.

Thankfully no one was hurt.

But can you imagine if the police officer had seriously injured or killed someone?...and all b/c they really wanted to catch some punk who, if adjudicated all the way through, will likely face misdemeanor charges at sentencing and be put on probation for a while.

Yes, police pursuits are very dangerous. And too many times it is innocent people that are injured/killed. That is why police departments all over the country have modified their pursuit rules to be less aggressive. Apparently PCSD, or maybe just Deputy Kyle, did not.

As for your statement about "I believe that we have some of the most professional and well trained officers in the state"... well, I would say that is certainly debatable. But that's your opinion, so fair enough.

In rebuttal I would point out the following from the article about the fugitive:

"Putnam County Sheriff’s Department detectives obtained information that Brown would be at a residence north of the DePauw University campus on Wednesday."

And...

"Working undercover, the detectives had the location under surveillance when Brown arrived at the location around noon on Wednesday."

And...

"When the deputies approached Brown, he fled the scene and a vehicle chase ensued, at first in the immediate area."

So, they had information (someone is helping the police) he was going to be at "x". They were watching and waiting. UNDERCOVER. He showed up. And yet they still were unable to apprehend him, and he was able to get into a vehicle and flee.

Neither of these incidents (the failed apprehension or the crash) are a ringing endorsement for the "well trained" and "most professional" accolades.

BTW - It is "Brute", not "Bruto". "Et tu, Brute?" - Julius Caesar.

Also, it was discovered after I wrote my first account of the accident that the reason the brick wall dividing the Vine St. parking lot and the sidewalk was damaged (the limestone cap on the wall was completely removed from the bricks) was that Deputy Lee was driving on the public sidewalk for a while after being hit by the first vehicle in the intersection of Vine and Walnut. This is evidenced by the swirls of black tire marks on the wall! What if someone had been on that sidewalk or standing at the intersection waiting to cross when this happened? There would have been fatalities. I would update 'dreadpirateroberts" comment about '25% bad luck and 75% bad policing' to 25% good fortune and 75% bad decisions.

Seems like there are a lot of “what if’s” being spoke of. None of these “what if’s” happened. So we need to quit playing traffic cop and detective and leave this to the qualified personnel. I do not know anything about this incident except what was in the paper. But I am sure Officer Kyle could use some prayers right now. We were not in his shoes or fully understand the circumstances. It is not our place to judge anyone.

Nit -

It would seem by your use of "[I]t is not our place to judge anyone" that you don't believe in the rule of law, or the law of consequences, and that everyone should be morally and legally free to do what they wish.

Or perhaps you are simply misunderstanding what that phrase really means, if you are haphazardly throwing scripture out there.

We are: trying to discern what happened based on all information available; articulate the risks involved in what happened (even if they weren't actualized)... its called "risk assessment" and is a very real thing in the real world; and stating our opinion based on what we know so that we (community) can decide if this is ok or if something needs to be changed.

As I stated in my prior comment - law enforcement departments all over the world and all over the United States have modified their pursuit policies to help prevent such things as what happened in town from happening. Again, thankfully no one was hurt.

I don't know Deputy Kyle personally, but somewhere a decision was made by either the PCSD or Deputy Kyle, to engage in a dangerous (as clearly evidenced) pursuit. I think its okay if we say that it was dangerous, and ask for an accounting by the PCSD and Deputy Kyle.

And I think its okay if some members of the community share their views on the situation.

Dreadpiraterobers: Caesar/@et2Bruto is 100% correct when he refers to to Brown as a felon so don't be so quick to attempt and correct him. Anyone can look online and pull up the criminal history for Jeffrey R. Brown and see that he is a former DOC inmate for various felonies. His criminal history and his current pending charges are the reasons he is fleeing. His history dates back many years and began when he was in elementary school (I know the family and the situation for a fact before you tell me I am assuming). It is unfortunate all that occurred on Wednesday but it is also unfortunate that Brown continues to be a statistic of our judicial system and hopefully his history and is recent actions will earn him a long stay in custody.

Dream - I will defer to your personal knowledge of the guy.

I was going on the information presented in the articles, and prefaced my comments accordingly.