Monday, July 18, 2005

Skyrockets in Flight, Afternoon Delight

Boy Who Fired Bottle Rockets Into Traffic Killed While Fleeing Angry Driver

WFTV.com Orlando, Florida

POSTED: 3:36 pm EDT July 15, 2005

UPDATED: 9:13 am EDT July 17, 2005

SPANAWAY, Wash. -- A 12-year-old boy who was firing bottle rockets at cars was chased into traffic Friday by an angry driver and killed by another car, authorities said. The driver and his passenger, both 22, were arrested for investigation of manslaughter, the Washington State Patrol said.

The death came soon after midnight in this small town south of Tacoma, where the preteen and a 12-year-old cousin had been hiding in bushes while shooting the bottle rockets, trooper Johnny R. Alexander said.

A car stopped, and passenger Tyrone Sherrod got out, chased the cousin and started beating him, Alexander said. The driver, Mario N. Haley, chased the other boy, who ran onto the highway and was struck by a car driven by a 17-year-old girl.

Both men fled, but police found them at homes. Investigators determined the girl was not at fault.

Witnesses unsuccessfully tried to revive the boy struck by the car. His cousin was treated for injuries and released to his parents.

~~

This is why I tell very angry people, enraged for one slight or another, to NOT CHASE BAD GUYS.

There’s two kinds of liability as the chaser: a) the liability of chasing the bad guy into, oh I don’t know, TRAFFIC and getting them killed; and b) the liability of chasing them into a corner and having them fight you and one of you getting seriously hurt, often the chaser.

Remember that when you call 911 I become responsible to try and protect your angry stupid ass.

Such a waste.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, when we discussed this the other day you didn't seem that emotional about it! nor did i know that the first kid was being beaten by the chaser that caught him, which would scare me if i were 12 yoa and make me run, but scared enuff to run into traffic, i, as in me and i can only speak for me, might take an ass beating first before getting ran over. but the situation can't be judged on what i would do, cuz it's all perspective. however as a firm believer in non violence action, i firmly believe that these older chaser's should be held some what responsible, for such an horrible reaction to their action. especially after the chaser's fleed the seen. but make no doubt about it, if those 12 yoa's would of endangered my 2 yoa and 11 yoa by making another driver run me off of the road cuz of their actions, i would most certainly get out of my vehicle also, but i would be more authoritative and make the boys come to me, and not run after them. and as harsh as this may seem, and it is extremely harsh, i hope the parents of the boy that was ran over, learn something about better parenting. now that's a long other discussion, parenting and what not, that i won't get into at this time but am open for discussion on this matter when ever anyone wants to talk about it. my sympathies go out to all parties involved in this i can't imagine what it's like to lose someone, that SHOULD be so loved!!

William, not the greatest parent, but a very loving one!

nita said...

such a mess. i feel worst of all for the 17 yo girl cuz she will never escape that without a lobotomy or something.

Eric said...

It's an interesting puzzle. Would I have chased the kids who scared the crap out of me and were endangering every driver? Maybe so.

Did the kid deserve to die? Of course not.

Unfortuantely the 19 year olds were acting like 19 year olds and the 12 year olds were acting like 12 year olds and it's the driver of the vehicle that hit the 12yo that I feel the worst for.

Everyone loses.

Lindsey said...

Yep, that was all over the news down here. Spanaway is just a little city/suburb of Tacoma. We live in Puyallup which is right around the corner from Spanaway. I felt bad for the kid that died.....but I think everyone is in the wrong. I feel bad for the parents who have to say, yeah my child died because he was shooting bottle rockets at passing cars on I-5 and the person he hit chased him. Its just one huge mess, and unfortunatly someone's life ended in it. Maybe the parents should have known where their kids were though. Just my opinion :)