Tweet
Reactions...
Family faults police for deaths in Petersburg crash
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 - 12:09 AM
By JUAN ANTONIO LIZAMA
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
PETERSBURG -- The family of the driver who was killed with his friend after a police pursuit say they blame police for chasing them.
"If [the officer] had the license plate, why was he pursuing?" said Cecil Winfield, the father of Javon Butts, the driver of the car. "To me, it is a wrongful death."
Butts, 19, and passenger Donte Howlett, 18, were killed when the car crashed into some trees in the 2400 block of Defense Road on Tuesday at 1:27 a.m. A 16-yearold girl remains in critical condition at VCU Medical Center.
Butts did not have a driver's license, his father said.
Winfield said his son has never been in trouble with the law. "My son had no reason to run. He might have been a little nervous because he had no license," he said.
The car Butts was driving belonged to his grandmother, Carolyn Butts, with whom he stayed sometimes. He took her to and from work, she said.
Police should have made certain who the shoplifting suspects were and not assume that his son had committed a crime, Winfield said. "What [police] are saying happened doesn't add up."
Police said Butts made a purchase at the 7-Eleven on East South Boulevard on Tuesday around the same time an officer was responding to a call of a possible shoplifting.
Butts, a graduate of Petersburg High School, was driving a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire, which he almost backed into the officer's patrol car in the parking lot, police said. The officer assumed they were the suspects and ordered them to pull over, but Butts fled, driving up to 60 mph down the winding, two-lane Defense Road, police said. The speed limit is 25 and 35 mph.
Police said the officer pursued from a distance. Butts crashed about 3 miles from the 7-Eleven. Butts was not wearing a seat belt, while Howlett was, state police said.
Surveillance footage revealed Butts and his companions were not suspects in the shoplifting call, police said.
"We regret any time tragedies occur when lives are lost," Petersburg Mayor Annie M. Mickens said in an interview yesterday. "But our police department responded in what we believe was the most appropriate manner."
Esther Hyatt, a spokeswoman for the police department, said they have listened to the 911 tapes.
"The chief [John Dixon III] believes the officer did everything within protocol," she said.
Winfield and his family disagree.
"It's hard to believe they did a high-speed chase," Winfield said.
The family is devastated, said Shemikka Winfield, one of Butts' sisters.
"We just need more answers as far as what happened," she said. "There are so many different stories."
State police and Petersburg police are investigating the crash.
"The family is very hurt and angry for this," said Lois Winfield, Butts' paternal grandmother.
Winfield said police have not given him any details of what happened, and he had expected them to do so. He said he may have to go to them to get some answers. He is also asking people who might know something to give him a call.
"I'd be satisfied if I can find out the truth," Winfield said.
Butts'
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-65 or [email protected].
Family faults police for deaths in Petersburg crash
Thursday, Jul 24, 2008 - 12:09 AM
By JUAN ANTONIO LIZAMA
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
PETERSBURG -- The family of the driver who was killed with his friend after a police pursuit say they blame police for chasing them.
"If [the officer] had the license plate, why was he pursuing?" said Cecil Winfield, the father of Javon Butts, the driver of the car. "To me, it is a wrongful death."
Butts, 19, and passenger Donte Howlett, 18, were killed when the car crashed into some trees in the 2400 block of Defense Road on Tuesday at 1:27 a.m. A 16-yearold girl remains in critical condition at VCU Medical Center.
Butts did not have a driver's license, his father said.
Winfield said his son has never been in trouble with the law. "My son had no reason to run. He might have been a little nervous because he had no license," he said.
The car Butts was driving belonged to his grandmother, Carolyn Butts, with whom he stayed sometimes. He took her to and from work, she said.
Police should have made certain who the shoplifting suspects were and not assume that his son had committed a crime, Winfield said. "What [police] are saying happened doesn't add up."
Police said Butts made a purchase at the 7-Eleven on East South Boulevard on Tuesday around the same time an officer was responding to a call of a possible shoplifting.
Butts, a graduate of Petersburg High School, was driving a 1997 Pontiac Sunfire, which he almost backed into the officer's patrol car in the parking lot, police said. The officer assumed they were the suspects and ordered them to pull over, but Butts fled, driving up to 60 mph down the winding, two-lane Defense Road, police said. The speed limit is 25 and 35 mph.
Police said the officer pursued from a distance. Butts crashed about 3 miles from the 7-Eleven. Butts was not wearing a seat belt, while Howlett was, state police said.
Surveillance footage revealed Butts and his companions were not suspects in the shoplifting call, police said.
"We regret any time tragedies occur when lives are lost," Petersburg Mayor Annie M. Mickens said in an interview yesterday. "But our police department responded in what we believe was the most appropriate manner."
Esther Hyatt, a spokeswoman for the police department, said they have listened to the 911 tapes.
"The chief [John Dixon III] believes the officer did everything within protocol," she said.
Winfield and his family disagree.
"It's hard to believe they did a high-speed chase," Winfield said.
The family is devastated, said Shemikka Winfield, one of Butts' sisters.
"We just need more answers as far as what happened," she said. "There are so many different stories."
State police and Petersburg police are investigating the crash.
"The family is very hurt and angry for this," said Lois Winfield, Butts' paternal grandmother.
Winfield said police have not given him any details of what happened, and he had expected them to do so. He said he may have to go to them to get some answers. He is also asking people who might know something to give him a call.
"I'd be satisfied if I can find out the truth," Winfield said.
Butts'
Contact Juan Antonio Lizama at (804) 649-65 or [email protected].
Comment