Authorities identify teen killed in Washington, D.C., crash after 30-mile police chase

A third teenager In the car, Demetri Koger, 19, survived and was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries; D.C. police have charged him with being a fugitive from justice.

The crash was preceded by a lengthy police chase through multiple jurisdictions, starting near Annapolis and extending through Anne Arundel and Prince George's counties. en route to the District, where U.S. Park Police joined the pursuit. Anne Arundel County police said they initiated the pursuit because they suspected the car was linked to several armed robberies.

The aftermath of the fatal crash has left grieving relatives distraught and wondering how long the lawsuit will last.

“Why are you chasing a car that’s going that fast?” asked Terrina Riley, who was in a relationship with Harris’ father. Riley, 34, said she was a mother figure to Harris and rushed to the scene of the accident Tuesday afternoon.

Harris had several siblings and two daughters, “Koger, the teenager arrested at the scene, is one of Harris' brothers,” Riley said.

Washington DC police said in a news release Wednesday that the BMW was traveling at a high rate of speed when it lost control, veered to the right and struck the curb. It struck a tree with such force that the vehicle split in two, the front end spinning until it came to rest against a metal fence.

At a news conference Tuesday, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad offered a general defense of her officers' actions, citing the vehicle's alleged connection to several armed robberies and a policy that allows police to pursue vehicles involved in crimes and saying she “fully supports” the actions of the officers.[s]”officers in the decisions they make regarding prosecutions.

On Wednesday, Anne Arundel police spokesman Justin Mulcahy said the actions of the force's officers “were in full compliance with our policy,” but declined to publicly share the department's pursuit policy “due to the tactical operations and investigative techniques contained in the policy.”

An Anne Arundel police spokesman said county police pursued the car through the district but then “became the secondary agency” and were not near the car when it crashed.

The U.S. National Park Police referred questions about the investigation to the Washington, D.C., police, but pointed to the pursuit policy on its website, in effect since 2018. According to that policy, the National Park Police are authorized to pursue a vehicle when the suspect is wanted for a crime involving violence or the threat of violence, which includes crimes such as homicide, sexual assault and robbery. They are also authorized to pursue vehicles if the suspect inside “is wanted for or has committed a felony and is in known possession of a firearm.”

The policy also states that when Park Police are involved in pursuits, they must follow all applicable federal or state laws if they are more restrictive than Park Police policy.

In Washington, the law, which lawmakers relaxed in a bill passed in March, is stricter. It says officers can engage in a car chase only if they have exhausted all other options. Officers must also believe that a fleeing suspect has committed or attempted to commit a violent crime or poses an imminent threat of serious harm to another person, the law says. The law also allows police to pursue a suspect only if they believe it is immediately necessary to protect another person from harm, and if they believe the pursuit is not likely to seriously injure anyone other than the fleeing suspect.

A Park Police spokesperson declined to answer questions about whether D.C. laws applied to its officers during the D.C. portion of the chase, writing in an email that “evaluating the policy is part of the ongoing investigation.”

Karl Bickel, a former Justice Department policy analyst on community policing, said that based on publicly available information, he believes the prosecution was unjustified because it put members of the public at risk.

“I don’t see how you can justify a pursuit like that, especially at that time of day and over 30 miles,” said Bickel, who is also a former second-in-command of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office and a former Washington, D.C. police officer. “The decision to pursue or not should be based on the danger it poses to the public, not the seriousness of the offense.”

Even if a person is suspected of theft, Bickel said, police might find other opportunities to capture them later to avoid endangering members of the public driving or walking near a pursuit.

Koger remains in surgery and is expected to appear in court Thursday. He was charged last year in Prince George’s County with having a loaded handgun in a vehicle and sentenced earlier this year to six months of home confinement and two years of supervised probation, court records show. Anne Arundel police have not charged Koger in connection with the thefts they say were linked to the BMW.

“Detectives are still investigating to determine what incidents the suspects were connected to in Anne Arundel County,” Mulcahy said. in an email.

No attorney was assigned to Koger in Washington, D.C., and his appointed attorney in the Prince George's County case declined to comment on the gun charges.

While at the scene Tuesday, Riley said life was tough for Harris at times. But she remembers how he loved doing crafts as a child and laughingly recalls how much he hated potty training. She will remember him as a very smart kid who remembered random facts he learned in school, like the circumference of the different planets.

“We’re going to miss him,” Riley said.

Keith L. Alexander contributed to this report.