Experts Weigh In on Police Pursuit Guidelines After Tragic Ybor City Accident

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In Tampa, Florida, a newly released video from a business in Ybor City captures the harrowing moment when a car crashed into the patio of Bradley’s on 7th this past Saturday. The tragic incident resulted in the deaths of four people and injuries to 13 others.

“It felt like being in a war zone,” recounted Camaron Barker, who was on the patio when the crash occurred.

Another surveillance camera recorded the car speeding down the street, appearing to run over a man’s foot. The man quickly retreated back into another nearby venue. According to court documents, at least two people were hurled into the air; one struck the ceiling of Bradley’s outdoor area, while the other hit the building’s exterior wall on the far side of the patio.

“I found myself helping people trapped on the ground, caught between stools, and pinned under the car,” Barker described.

The pursuit of the suspect, 22-year-old Silas Sampson, started when police said he drove away from their attempted traffic stops and was street racing on I-275. Troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol tried a pit maneuver and they stopped pursuing due to the high pedestrian traffic in Ybor City.

Criminologist Alex Del Carmen said in the moment, law enforcement likely weighed what they knew about the suspect, but said they were faced with tough decisions, as they always are. 8 On Your Side asked what law enforcement should do when pit maneuvers don’t work.

“It really does depend on jurisdiction, gravity of the offense and whether or not the officers have the latitude in terms of space density and absence of innocent bystanders that could get hurt along the way. All of those things come into configuration as to what options the troopers may have in this case,” Del Carmen said.

8 On Your Side also asked if there was anything else police could’ve done to prevent the tragedy.

“I would say no. And I would say that these kinds of situations are awful, but they are lawful,” Del Carmen said. “At some point, you know, that equation has to be played out, which is do we stop it now at whatever it may cost in terms of human life, versus letting this person continue to evade the law and cause even more harm to other innocent people.”

Sampson has a pretrial detention hearing set for Thursday morning.