Did fatal scooter pursuit by Totowa police violate state regulations? Videos released

PATERSON — The fatal Totowa police pursuit of a motorized scooter into Paterson last September may have violated several state regulations restricting the circumstances under which cops can chase after motor vehicles.

The New Jersey Attorney General’s Office on Monday evening released police radio transmissions and private security camera footage of the incident, in which 28-year-old David Lucero of Paterson, the scooter driver, died after colliding with a civilian’s vehicle on McBride Avenue at the end of a 1.7-mile chase through three towns.

A ranking Totowa police officer said during one of the radio transmissions recorded after the fatal crash that he tried to call off the pursuit. But none of the radio calls released on Monday contained the ranking officer transmitting the order to his subordinates to stop the chase.

At the start of the chase, Totowa Police Officer Damiano DiIorio made a radio call during which he said he was conducting the pursuit because someone on the scooter was not wearing a helmet and because the motorbike was weaving in and out of traffic.

More: This is why Paterson activists are concerned about a police pursuit and a fatal crash

But the attorney general's guidelines don’t permit pursuits for traffic infractions. The state regulations say police can conduct pursuits only for violent or serious crimes, such as homicide, aggravated assault or robbery.

The state regulations also say officers engaged in pursuits that extend into other law enforcement jurisdictions should provide “timely notification” to authorities in the neighboring town. But the radio transmissions released Monday show that Totowa police waited until more than a minute after the fatal crash to alert Paterson police.

The guidelines also say that no more than two police vehicles can engage in a pursuit unless directed by a supervisor. The video footage made public Monday shows that four police vehicles with their lights flashing were chasing the scooter through Totowa.

Attorney General Matthew Platkin’s office said the investigation into Lucero’s death is continuing. State authorities did not immediately respond when asked if the Totowa officers violated the attorney general's pursuit guidelines.

Pat Caserta, the lawyer representing DiIorio, declined to comment for this story.

A passenger on the scooter with Lucero suffered non-life-threatening injuries in the crash, authorities said.

The chase started at about 7:19 p.m. on Sept. 20 on Union Boulevard near Bogert Street in Totowa, according to the recordings. The scooter, with the police following, made a right on Totowa Road and continued across the Hillery Street bridge into Woodland Park, the recordings indicate.

“He’s going at a decent rate of speed,” DiIorio said in a radio transmission.

The scooter immediately made a left on McBride Avenue and eventually crossed into Paterson.

“We’re all behind Damian,” a police officer said in one of the radio transmissions.

Seconds later, one of the officers made a radio call reporting, “Accident, accident.”

A security camera video from near the scene of the fatal crash at McBride and Murray avenues shows the two men on the scooter fly 5 to 10 feet into the air, spinning, before they fall to the pavement.

“Did you catch me terminate it?” asked a ranking Totowa officer in a radio transmission.

“No, I didn’t catch you,” responded another cop.

“I told him to terminate it,” said the ranking officer.

“I didn’t hear nothing,” said the second cop. “I heard you ask something, and that was it.”

Authorities on Monday did not put out a seamless recording of all Totowa police radio transmissions during and after the fatal chase. Instead, the Attorney General's Office distributed more than a dozen segments of separate radio calls.

None of the calls released Monday included the alleged order to terminate the chase. It’s not clear whether there were any other radio calls in between the recordings made public.

Days after the Totowa incident, police officials in Paterson issued revised pursuit procedures that were more restrictive than the state guidelines. On Oct. 1, a Paterson police officer saw multiple men fire gunshots and flee in a vehicle. A lieutenant told that officer to stop chasing the getaway car.

It later turned out that 22-year-old Mary Taylor was killed in that shooting. More than 100 days later, no one has been arrested in Taylor’s homicide.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Did Totowa NJ police fatal scooter pursuit violate AG regulations?