It's very sad to see this. Sometimes I think a police chase may not be worth it, because the motorcyclist could have hurt others in the process of this chase. You can always go pick up an individual at a later date if they break the law like this......unless the individual is armed and dangerous.

The family of the young kid will be in my prayers, whether or not he was in the wrong, we all make mistakes.....some bigger than others, maybe other will learn from this....very sad...he is so young.

I'm glad you are not a law enforcement officer although your 20/20 hindsight vision is very impressive. Trooper Hitchcock was doing an excellent job of keeping our highways safe by attempting to stop someone who was speeding with fake license plates. How is he to know who that person is? It's not like the speeder threw his license at the trooper before taking off. He could have very well just murdered someone and plan to murder someone else tomorrow. It is because of the unknown that our law enforcements officers have to chase these people down. Innocent people don't run.

To your point of "You can always go pick up an individual at a later date if they break the law like this" how would they do so? The motorcycle was fitted with fictitious plates so they obviously did not have his address or identity. What would happen if officers of the law followed your advice and never chased anyone? The criminal would simply say to themselves that all they have to do is run and the police won't chase them. That would lead to more criminals fleeing and more wrecks causing injuries to bystanders. Let our officers do what they are trained to do.

I do agree that law enforcement does a great job and I was not saying that they not go after criminals and I did say unless the individual is armed and dangerous. In other states there are laws that during high speed pursuits officers have to back off to protect not only their lives, but the lives of the other innocent citizens. Because luckily it did not occur in this case, but others could have been killed or seriously hurt and sometimes chasing a certain individual is not worth it, especially the life of an individual. I do not agree with the individual that was riding the motorcycle or is actions and I do applaud the police for their hard work too.

I do see your point Conwaygirl. Yeah, this person had fictitious tags...speeding on a motorcycle. Big whoop. The story doesn't note the person murdered someone, is wanted for any crime, has any warrants, nor did drugs fly all over the road after the destruction of this motorcycle. Is it worth killing the rider, endangering officers, endangering civilians, and others just to write this guy a "Failure to pay registration" fine and a misdemeanor for using fake tags? What if the ambulance had been transporting an ill patient? Yeah, the officers did their job and quite impressively. It's always great to see them doing their job the right way, but when do you draw the line? Are 500 dollars in fines the price we pay for human life now?

How are the law enforcement officers supposed to know beforehand if the person driving that motorcycle is Osama Bin Laden or Kris Allen? They can't because the person did not provide identification beforehand and drove with fake tags. You say they should only chase him if he is armed and dangerous? How can they tell if he is armed if he does not stop and surrender to the officers? He could have had a vest bomb and was going to ride his motorcycle through the front door of a day-care. The officers have no way of knowing that beforehand. All they know at the time is that there is a person driving dangerously and hiding his identify. They have no way of knowing what he has done or what he will do if he is not apprehended.

By the way Voice,

There is a saying that is appropriate at a time like this. "Listening to two people describe a car wreck will make you seriously concerned about the accuracy of recorded history."