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Posted by: USMCTrooper

May 16, 2008 5:40 am
CHICOPEE/HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) - A police chase that started in Chicopee ended in a fatal car crash in Holyoke.
Police are releasing very little information Friday morning, but Holyoke Police Officer Jeff Jonic did tell 22News that driver of that car died on the scene around 2 o'clock Friday morning.
The car flipped over in the Forestdale Cemetery on the corner of Cabot and Pleasant Streets in Holyoke. The car smashed into a wall, hit several trees, and went through a fence before flipping over.

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Posted by: Killjoy

Price you pay running from the police.

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Posted by: resqjyw0

Police chase in Chicopee and Holyoke ends with death of driver at cemetery

by The Republican Newsroom
Friday May 16, 2008, 10:35 PM

By GEORGE GRAHAM
ggraham@repub.com

and SANDRA E. CONSTANTINE
sconstantine@repub.com

HOLYOKE - A police chase that started in Chicopee this morning ended with the death of the female driver when she crashed her vehicle into Forestdale Cemetery at Cabot and Pleasant streets, police said.

Chicopee police said they had broken off the chase before the crash, and Holyoke police said they never picked up the pursuit in their city.

Holyoke Police Lt. Michael J. Higgins said Chicopee police reported chasing a vehicle over the Willamansett Bridge shortly before 2 a.m.

The driver proceeded up Cabot Street where she hit a traffic island at Pleasant Street and went up over the wall into the cemetery, Higgins said. Cabot Street takes a turn at the cemetery before becoming Pleasant Street.

Police said the driver, whose identify was not released, died at the scene.

Cabot and Pleasant streets, closed while police conducted their investigation, reopened to traffic about 7 this morning, police said.

Further information about the driver and the crash was not available today.

Higgins said Holyoke police were busy at other locations when the crash occurred and were not involved in the chase. He referred further questions to the Chicopee Police Department.

Chicopee Police Capt. John J. Murawski said Chicopee police had broken off the chase.

Chicopee Police Chief John R Ferraro Jr. said, "Police around the country have policies and procedures in place regarding chases and the Chicopee Police Department is one of them." He had no further comment.

Holyoke Police Chief Anthony R. Scott said, "We discourage pursuits."

The decision as to whether or not to conduct a police chase is made by the commanding officer, who carefully weighs the particulars, Scott said.

If an incident involves just a traffic violation, Scott said his officers do not pursue a vehicle.

State Police Sgt. Robert M. Bousquet, department spokesman, said the state police policy on whether or not to give chase also depends on a number of factors.

"It is a balancing act considering the risk of trying to stop somebody versus the necessity to apprehend the suspect," Bousquet said.

State police consider whether the risks of a pursuit outweigh of giving chase, Bousquet said. The state police policy is about six pages long, he said

He said a misconception is that state police do not give chase for traffic violations.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.s...category=Crime

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Posted by: kwflatbed

May 28, 2008 5:10 p.m.

HOLYOKE, Mass. (WWLP) Police released the name of the driver who died after leading them on a chase through Chicopee and Holyoke.
According to the police report obtained by 22News, Laura Johnson of North Carolina died on May sixteen when she crashed a stolen car into the Forestdale cemetery in Holyoke.
The report claims that before the crash, she failed to stop for police in Chicopee and a chase began ending tragically in Holyoke.
Johnson was just five days shy of her twenty third birthday.

http://www.wwlp.com/Global/story.asp?S=8391148

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Posted by: resqjyw0

Woman in fatal May 16 car crash in Holyoke identified as being from Springfield

by The Republican Newsroom
Wednesday May 28, 2008, 4:34 PM

HOLYOKE - The woman killed May 16 in a car crash at Forestdale Cemetery was identified as Laura Johnson, 22, of Springfield, according to the office of Holyoke Police Chief Anthony S. Scott.

Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene when she crashed into the cemetery at Cabot and Pleasant streets, police said.

At the time, she was fleeing from police for an undisclosed offense in Chicopee, although officials with the Chicopee and Holyoke each said that their officers were not chasing her.

Chicopee police said they had broken off the chase before the crash, and Holyoke police said they never picked up the pursuit in their city.

No other information was disclosed today.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.s...=News%20Briefs

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Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by resqjyw0 Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene when she crashed into the cemetery at Cabot and Pleasant streets, police said.

I wonder if the family got a discount from the funeral home for saving on the delivery charge?

Quote:

Originally Posted by resqjyw0 Chicopee police said they had broken off the chase before the crash, and Holyoke police said they never picked up the pursuit in their city.

So much for the school of thought that fleeing suspects will become student drivers once the police stop chasing them.

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Posted by: Q5-TPR

And you know how it is going to read. "The Police didn't have to kill my daughter. There was no need to chase her, she was just getting her life back together." I hate everyone!

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Posted by: lpwpd722

Looks like she was getting her life back together, stupid bitch

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