Amid High Numbers in the Metro, Local Police Say Last High Speed Chase was Warranted

While some are wondering whether police should stop pursuing suspects when a vehicle chase becomes dangerous, one West Des Moines lieutenant said one of his department's most recent cases was warranted.

Des Moines police have engaged in 29 chases so far in 2013, nearly twice as many as by this time last year, according to a recent report by The Des Moines Register. Some Iowa officials are rethinking pursuit policies after two cases ended in drivers' deaths, the article said.

In West Des Moines, police have been involved in two high-speed chases in the last month.

On April 4, West Des Moines police received a report that two women and a teenager were shoplifting from Von Maur at Valley West Mall, according to an earlier report by Des Moines Register. It ended nearly two miles away at the intersection of Valley West Drive and Western Hills Drive, where the 15-year-old who was allegedly driving the vehicle sideswiped Rater’s car and another vehicle while trying to maneuver between two rows of cars stopped at the intersection.

The same week, an 18-year-old Polk City man led police on a 20-mile chase that started in Ankeny and ended near Mills Civic Parkway in West Des Moines. Despite refusing to pull over, speeds in the chase never exceeded 70 mph.

Lt. Jim Barrett told the Register West Des Moines police officials found the April 4 chase to be warranted and properly executed.

But Maja Rater, 71, of Casey – whose car was hit during the April 4 chase - disagreed.

“Shoplifting is not something you endanger someone’s life over,” she told the newspaper. “As far as I’m concerned, (the suspects) were not a danger to the public until the cops started chasing them."