JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Many factors, like a crowded highway and weather conditions, led to the length of Thursday night's police chase. The main factor was that a 5-year-old was in the vehicle that was being pursued.
According to First Coast News Crime and Safety expert Mark Baughman, many of those same factors should have led to the termination of the pursuit.
What we do know at this point is that JSO says Pamela Cabrera's vehicle flew off the on-ramp at a high rate of speed and landed in a retention pond.
But why didn't they stop her earlier in the chase?
Baughman says that the fact a 5-year-old was in the vehicle led JSO to adjust their tactics.
"If it's just one vehicle and suspect leaving, they could potentially pit that vehicle," said Baughman, "They come over and tap it and put into a spin so the driver loses control, you wouldn't do that with a victim in the car. The vehicle had a high center of gravity so I don't think they felt comfortable about pitting the vehicle even if she was the only one in it."
Baughman also believes that the presence of a child in the vehicle was a big reason why spikes were not used to stop the vehicle.
"I don't know if you consider deploying those because you may lose control of the vehicle and crash," said Baughman.
Ultimately Cabrera did lose control of her vehicle and crashed even though those methods were not used by JSO.