Tampa police update vehicle pursuit policy after review of deadly Ybor City crash
TAMPA, Fla. - The Tampa Police Department updated its vehicle pursuit policy after a deadly crash in Ybor City that killed four people and injured more than a dozen others last November.
Police review deadly Ybor City crash
What we know:
As part of standard procedures, TPD said it reviewed the response to the deadly crash. In a memo signed by TPD Chief Lee Bercaw Tuesday, "the review confirmed that TPD did not participate in or request the pursuit of the vehicle involved."
Courtesy: Tampa Police Department
However, TPD said it did update its vehicle pursuit policy to further clarify expectations. According to the memo, "the update clearly states that TPD officers are prohibited from requesting another agency to initiate a pursuit when TPD policy would not allow us to do so."
On Wednesday, TPD released nearly 12 minutes of helicopter footage showing how the November 8 incident unfolded.
Helicopter video of crash released
Timeline:
TPD’s aviation unit spotted two cars reportedly street racing before one began heading southbound on I-275.
According to court documents, "the TPD aviation unit communicated the location of the vehicle to a TPD patrol unit as well as to the patrol vehicles of two Florida Highway Patrol troopers."
At that point, the vehicle was near Palm Avenue and Nebraska Avenue.
Shortly after, an FHP trooper initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle for driving recklessly – but the car didn’t stop. Then, an FHP trooper tried — and failed — to use a PIT maneuver to stop the vehicle, but the driver continued down 7th Avenue.
The FHP trooper ended the pursuit around 12:45 a.m. due to heavy pedestrian traffic, court documents state.
About 10 seconds after that, the TPD helicopter crew can be heard on the aerial video saying, "Hey, FHP — we'll keep him in sight if you want to back off since he's on 7th Ave."
Right after the helicopter crew finished that sentence, the car plowed into a crowd of people sitting outside Bradley’s on 7th and the Copper Shaker. Four people were killed, and 13 others were injured.
Silas Sampson, now 23-years-old, was arrested and is facing several charges, including DUI manslaughter.
Reviewing other FHP pursuit cases
Dig deeper:
In addition to reviewing the November deadly crash, TPD said it reviewed "all fleeing to elude incidents involving FHP within the city of Tampa since February 2024."
According to the Tuesday memo, "the review confirmed that TPD did not request FHP to pursue vehicles in any of those cases, and no violations of TPD policy were found."
As FOX 13 has previously reported, FHP operates under a more relaxed pursuit policy, which was amended in 2024 to give troopers fewer restrictions when engaging in chases.
Thomas Gleason, a retired police captain who has also served as a PIT trainer and law enforcement driving instructor, told FOX 13 the policy update highlights the balancing act of having two different agencies with different pursuit policies who patrol some of the same streets.
Different agency policies, more challenges
What they're saying:
"Agencies have different ways of doing things," Gleason – who is not affiliated with the investigation into the November deadly crash — said. "But how do we merge those together where we can have a good working relationship?"
According to Tuesday’s memo, TPD had also given FHP eight radios to help with communication during joint operations and major events.
This week, TPD announced the department took those radios back – saying "future communication with FHP will be coordinated with our communications division with the main radio frequencies to ensure transparency and accountability for all involved."
What we don't know:
The memo does not specify if the FHP trooper — who was involved in the November incident — had a TPD radio.
The Source: This story was gathered from information, documents and helicopter video sent to FOX 13’s Ariel Plasencia on Wednesday by the Tampa Police Department through a records request; past FOX 13 News reporting, interviews and various court documents related to Silas Sampson.