A rookie Cincinnati police officer violated police pursuit policy by running a stop sign, causing a wreck that killed an 18-year-old man in another car, his superiors said Monday.
Officer Gregory Berting, 23, acted on his own when he decided to join the chase Sunday for a hit-and-run driver by going out of his territory in District 3 and speeding downtown to catch up, authorities said.
At Central Avenue and Produce Drive, he collided with a car carrying teens on their way home from their jobs selling snacks at Cinergy Field.
The driver of the car, Michael Tenhundfeld, a 1997 graduate of Oak Hills High School, had called his mother in Delhi Township minutes earlier to say he was running late. He died at the scene. His girlfriend, Petrina "Trina" Dixon, 17, of Delhi Township, was in fair condition Monday. Another friend, Lisa Carter, 18, of Walnut Hills, was in critical condition.
Officer Berting was placed on a three-day administrative leave pending investigation of the accident. The Hamilton County prosecutor's office is deciding whether to charge him in the death. The crash was his fourth since joining the force June 9, 1996. He was found responsible in one of the other accidents.
In sorting through the aftermath, Cincinnati police were quick to apologize to the families. Then they told what went wrong.
The chase
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for graphic detailing the police chase and fatal crash. (100K)
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"At the time of the accident, the officer himself was attempting to catch up to the scene," said Cincinnati Police Lt. Col. Theodore Schoch, an assistant chief who held a news conference Monday. "According to the accident investigation, the officer did not stop for that stop sign."
Officer Berting was allowed to pursue the suspect, but he did not follow police policy when he went through the stop sign, Lt. Col. Schoch said. Policy is to yield right of way to all moving vehicles and pedestrians and to enter an intersection only when it's safe. But like the rest of the force, he was not trained to be involved in a high-speed chase.
"Our officers are trained in defensive driving," Lt. Col. Schoch said. "They are not trained in pursuit driving."
High-speed pursuit training is usually given to highway patrol officers or officers whose territory extends beyond city streets. "As a general rule, we do not provide that type of training," he said.
Whether that should be changed is under consideration, he said. Cincinnati police had 180 pursuits last year, he said. Of those, 155 resulted in an auto accident, typically involving the car that was chased, he said.
"It's a very difficult position to be in" in deciding whether to chase a suspect, he said. "I can't play down the importance of how concerned we are about the seriousness of this."
At the time of the chase, Officer Berting's police radio blared about a blue Pontiac Grand Am on the run.
Paul Wayne Lovelace
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The driver, Paul Wayne Lovelace, has racked up 56 criminal and traffic charges in Hamilton County since 1989. His major offenses are convictions for drug trafficking, burglary, forgery and receiving stolen property. He also uses three other names.
But all police who were chasing him knew Sunday night was that he was suspected in a hit-and-run accident in Walnut Hills.
Cincinnati District 1 police began watching him about 6:30 p.m. Sunday in a heavy drug-trafficking area at Gilbert Avenue and McMillan Street in Walnut Hills.
When the 25-year-old Springfield Township man ran a red light half an hour later, police began chasing him. Police said he backed into a car just before speeding toward the Kentucky state line. Cincinnati police stopped their chase shortly after 7 p.m. when Mr. Lovelace crossed the Roebling Suspension Bridge from Ohio into Covington.
Newport police spotted him nearly hitting a police car but did not pursue him. About 12 minutes later, Taylor Mill police detected him on Interstate 275. They chased him back toward Interstate 75 north and across the Brent Spence Bridge to Cincinnati.
By the time Mr. Lovelace was back on the Ohio side of the river, Officer Berting, in Cincinnati's west side, heard that the suspect was taking the River Road exit. That was in Officer Berting's territory, so he took off in pursuit.
It was also about the time Mr. Tenhundfeld, his girlfriend and Lisa Carter left Cinergy Field in a silver Honda and headed north on Central Avenue.
Officer Berting was going east on Produce Drive above the 25-mph speed limit. Officers say they don't know yet how fast he was going. He had almost caught up with the police chase when he went through the stop sign. Both air bags in his Crown Victoria deployed as he ran into the driver's door of the Honda, crushing Mr. Tenhundfeld. Emergency crews had to tear the top off the car to get the teen-agers out.
Mr. Lovelace was arrested a short time later on the 1500 block of Eastern Avenue. He faces charges of fleeing and eluding, receiving stolen property, failure to stop at a red light and not wearing a seat belt.
Police also are asking prosecutors to determine whether Mr. Lovelace can be charged in connection with the death.
Newport police are charging Mr. Lovelace with two counts of wanton endangerment. Police there say he almost hit an officer, went through two stop signs and a red light and almost caused another wreck.
His bond was set Monday at $150,000 cash in Hamilton County Municipal Court. He is being held at the Justice Center.
At Cincinnati City Hall, Councilman Tyrone Yates opened Monday's meeting of the council Law Committee he chairs with a statement about the accident.
"I would like to express my deepest sympathy for the family of the deceased and the families of the injured and to ask our citizens to continue praying for those in the hospital," he said. "I look forward to the speedy conclusion of the administration's investigation into this matter."
Councilman Todd Portune, a member of the committee, asked Mr. Yates whether council ought to consider adopting a specific policy on how to address such situations, which he said Mr. Yates has suggested in the past. Mr. Yates asked that he, Mr. Portune and Safety Director Kent Ryan discuss the matter.
To the friends of the man who died in the crash, an involuntary manslaughter charge might bring justice, said Jon Harris, 21, Mr. Tenhundfeld's neighbor in Delhi Township.
"Mike was my best friend," he said. "That officer should be punished in some way, and I'm not talking about a slap on the wrist. If you ask me, he's just a careless cop trying to be a hero and it cost my friend his life."
COPS' PURSUIT RULES VARY
TYPICAL DAY, TRAGIC NIGHT
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HIGH-SPEED POICE CHASE FATAL June 16, 1997
