Police deny reports they knew identity of driver in fatal Roanoke chase

Roanoke police knew the identity of a 19-year-old suspected of stealing his housemate's car when officers began a high-speed chase that ended in a wreck that killed the driver and seriously hurt the passenger, the car owner said Monday.

Edward Lyons, who shared a Northwest Roanoke home with Marcus Wilson, questioned whether officers involved in the chase followed police department policy that says a police supervisor should halt the pursuit of a suspect whose identity has been or can be determined. Three police supervisors monitored the 71 mph chase without stopping it.

"They made a huge tactical error," said Lyons, who called the police Thursday night to report the theft of his 2007 Honda Accord. "The chase could have been avoided by waiting on him."

Lyons said he gave officers investigating the car theft Wilson's name and cellphone number. Lyons also said he told the officers Wilson had taken the car on other occasions without permission.

Police spokeswoman Aisha Johnson said police couldn't be sure who was driving the stolen Honda when an officer spotted it early Friday and tried to stop it. Even Lyons wasn't certain who took the car when he reported it missing, Johnson said.

"He stated that his roommate or a friend of his roommate might have the vehicle, but he wasn't sure," Johnson wrote in an e-mail Monday. "The officers didn't know the driver's identity at the time of the pursuit."

Police couldn't verify whether Wilson had taken the car on previous occasions, as Lyons told them, because Lyons never reported those incidents to the police, Johnson said.

Wilson earned his high school diploma at Forest Park Academy and had plans to study criminal justice at Western Virginia Community College and attend law school after that. He lived with Lyons in the 500 block of Fifth Street Northwest, less than a half-mile from the crash, at Salem Avenue and Fifth Street.

"I don't understand why they had to chase my son," said his mother, Lorena Wilson. "He was very close to his house. We think he was just trying to drive home."

Deputy Chief Chris Perkins defended officers involved in the chase, saying at a news conference Friday they appeared to have followed police policy and training.

Lyons reported his car stolen Thursday about 11:40 p.m. and told police he wanted to press charges against the culprit. Officer A.S. Goad took the stolen car report, Johnson said. The same officer located the car on Melrose Avenue east of 24th Street about three hours later.

Goad tried to stop the driver, but the Honda fled at high speed, pursued by Goad. Lt. W.M. Babb joined the pursuit and two sergeants listened on police radio, Johnson said.

As the chase entered downtown Roanoke, Sgt. D.A. Dodd and Officer T.M. Mealey deployed tire-ripping spike strips on Salem Avenue near Fifth Street. The Honda swerved to avoid one set of spikes and nearly hit Mealey before striking a traffic control box and smashing into Integrated Imaging offices on the corner, police said.

Wilson died at the scene. His passenger was taken to Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital. Police have not released his name because they haven't positively identified him, Johnson said.

The passenger was Wilson's best friend, said Lorena Wilson. She did not know his last name. He is in intensive care, she said.

Eric Anderson, the principal at Forest Park, described Wilson as an "outstanding" student.

Lyons believes Wilson was living a double life.

"He came from a good family. He was this beloved student. He just graduated from Forest Park. He was doing some good and I was hoping he would stick with it," Lyons said.

But Wilson was influenced by hip-hop music that glorified gangsters, he said.

Wilson had no adult criminal record, and his mother said he was never in police trouble as a juvenile.

Wilson's death is Roanoke's second police pursuit fatality in two years. In January 2009, a 21-year-old man being chased by police for driving recklessly died after he crashed into a brick house in Northeast Roanoke. Two passengers were injured.

Statewide, there were 2,314 crashes, with 949 that resulted in injuries, involving police pursuits from 2004 to 2008, according to data from the Virginia Department of Transportation. Of those, 41 people were killed.

During the same five-year period, there were 79 crashes in Roanoke involving police pursuits, according to VDOT data. Eighteen of those crashes resulted in injuries.

Staff writer Matt Chittum contributed to this report.