Woman Dies After Car Rampage Kills 3 Kids

Man Fleeing Philadelphia Police After Armed Robbery Jumped Curb Hitting Crowd

(AP)  A woman has died after being hit by a car that crashed into a crowd during a police chase and killed three young children, at least one of them hers.

Albert Einstein Medical Center spokeswoman Judy Horwitz says 22-year-old Latoya Smith died Thursday morning.

Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey says Wednesday night's crash in the city's Feltonville neighborhood began with two men stealing a motorcycle at gunpoint. One man fled on the motorcycle, and the other sped away in a car.

Police were pursuing the car when it jumped the curb and hit the crowd in front of a house. All the children killed were under age 10.

The car's driver was arrested at the scene. The motorcycle rider was arrested at his home.

Police say they will release more information later Thursday morning.

[carolcape]

It is a tragedy and such a loss of life, especially when you feel safe when you're walking on the sidewalk. The police always have to chase criminals, but in some cases such as this, it was in a neighbourhood that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Four people dead to get someone that stole a car and a motorcycle. They should have let them go, if they had licence numbers. But they may have driven at a high rate of speed anyway and lost control. Everyone suffers. Nobody wins on this one.

[chyenna-2009]

Three innocent little lives gone. Life just never gets any easier.

[AngelaP07]

Gina Rosario Was My Cousin, And I think Both Of Them Mother F***ers should def. Get The Death Penalty, What The hell Is Philly Comming to every time you turn around some one is dead, shot up, or something else...its horrible out there. Rip Gina You will always be missed baby girl!! i love you

[mejordelahistoria]

this is funny, amanda knoxt gets sympathy for killing an indian girl in a satanic ritual but a robber that killed 3 children by accident you guys want the death penalty, it goes to show you why the jury system fails here in the US.

[6591Hou]

If the car is stolen (the plates are no good to track) and the police let them get away to avoid a chase, the perps weave up and down alleys and streets then park the car and walk away free. These were armed bad guys, they needed to be stopped. The police were not responsible for what happened, the jerks behind the wheel were.

[mnbrant]

I care. And you?

[ubrew12]

If anything deserves the death penalty. This guy should die.

[NancyLou9]

This person should go straight to the gas chamber!
Posted by mtcolquitt
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A guillotine would be a lot more fun to watch.
Posted by ElectricBlue44 at 12:05 PM : Jun 11, 2009
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The government should put that on Pay per view. I'd take out a second mortgage on my house to pay the bill for that television spectacular!

[Newster1]

This accident was the criminal's fault and should be charged as such. god bless these innocent victims.
Posted by observer2020

ALL victims are innocent regardless of their age! a bit LATE to ask this invisible god you worship to bless them... they are dead bodies!

[mahdeealoo]

All because of greed. How shameful.

[aztecdakota]

I seem to remember a law about serious offenders and shooting. It was like a 3 time warning, "Stop", "Stop or I'll shoot" , "This is your last warning, STOP OR I WILL SHOOT!", then of course , BANG.

[yermamma]

Posted by ArmandB at 12:25 PM : Jun 11, 2009

Ah here we go... it's the Libs fault these people died. Every story no matter what the topic turns into a libs vs conserv debate by morons trying to preach from their tattered soap boxes. Sure, I say let the cops just start shooting up the place. Maybe we can just bypass the demand to stop and just shoot first to save time. Let's arm the citizens and children so they can shoot too. It will be like the wild west again. Wouldn't that be fun?? It wasn't the libs... it wasn't the conservatives... it was the fault of the scum bag criminals and may they rot in hell after we're done with them.

[cbsblogger]

If there is a police hot pursuit chase at high speed through any city or neighborhood I'd venture an opinion that the odds of a serious accident involving innocent people resulting in death or severe life changing injury such as paralysis, etc. to be 50%. So why does law enforcement put the public at such risk just to catch a criminal or not even a criminal?

They need to develop strategies that eliminate these hot pursuits. The taxpayers are going to get hit with a multi million dollar suit over this as they always do and nothing ever changes.

The answer is to put these perps in prison for a long time when they are first convicted. Instead they are often let out early or off because the DA has a big workload. Almost every criminal is a repeat offender and needs to spend some major time in prison.

[HolyVoice]

This accident was the criminal's fault and should be charged as such. God bless these innocent victims.
Posted by observer2020 at 11:43 AM : Jun 11, 2009

Indeed.

[HolyVoice]

If the police weren't handcuffed by liberals these chases would be far and few between. In the 1950's when the police where able to shoot after making a demand to stop, not too many people ran.
Posted by ArmandB at 12:25 PM : Jun 11, 2009

Boy you have a selective memory. The 1920 and 30's where full of criminals running. Mobsters like Capone, Bonnie and Clyde, Dillinger to name a few. Even in horse back days criminals such as Butch Cassidy ran. In both examples, the law followed while shooting their guns but that didn't deter the criminals. Population growth and public safety requires better methods of pursuing criminals, and liberals may indeed be more concerned for the welfare and health of others, since these don't fall into an area for which conservatives focus much, if at all. The 1950s are you ideal years no doubt.

[mainermike]

This is AS I SEE IT by Mike "Mainer Mike" Brown.

I'm not saying that all liberal views are bad, I agree with many of them. A lot of their ideas have helped this country, such as more rights for women and minorities.

However, more rights for these two criminals is not one of them. It makes our nation more dangerous, because lawbreakers know they can get away with it.

So lets not put the blame on the police in this instance.

That's AS I SEE IT. I'm Mike "Mainer Mike" Brown.

[displeased]

Get the guys at home, they knew where to find them, they ripped off someone they knew, he gave them their names.
Posted by stryker54

And the police is supposed to know all this info as the armed criminal is running away?

[credibility2]

saturn05 - the word "rampage" can be used as both a noun and a verb. In the context of this story's title, "...car rampage..." the word "rampage" is correctly being used as a verb.

[mainermike]

This is AS I SEE IT, by Mike "Mainer Mike" Brown.

A gas chamber or a guillotine is an appropriate punishment for these two.

It would also create an example for others who have ever thought of trying to get away from the police in a high speed chase, which never works, by the way.

But the liberals will say they have rights under the Constitution. So it will never happen.

That's AS I SEE IT. I'm Mike "Mainer Mike" Brown.

[ElectricBlue44]

This person should go straight to the gas chamber!
Posted by mtcolquitt
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A guillotine would be a lot more fun to watch.