Run down by a supposedly "professional" driver --- one of their own!

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/south/view.bg?articleid=1047568&format=text

2 deputies killed by police vehicle during Fla. car chase
Authorities search for suspects

By Associated Press  |   Wednesday, November 28, 2007
PAHOKEE, Fla. - Two Palm Beach County sheriff's deputies who had tried to
stop a stolen vehicle on a rural road in the Everglades were killed when
they were struck by a police car early today. Another deputy was injured,
authorities said.

Scores of officers combed the region looking for two suspects in the car
theft, and later said they had one man in custody.

The deputies had put spikes on a road that punctured the stolen car's tires.
But when they ran to take the spikes off the road they were struck by a
canine patrol vehicle at about 1:45 a.m., Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said.

"They probably did not estimate the K-9 was coming at the speed that it
was," Bradshaw said at a news conference, noting that it was dark at the
time.

It was not immediately clear what happened to the stolen car after its tires
were punctured, but investigators tracked skid marks to a car that went into
a canal in Pahokee, a town on the shore of Lake Okeechobee about 45 miles
west of West Palm Beach.

Two men suspected of stealing the car were initially believed to have fled
into sugarcane fields between Pahokee and Belle Glade, and at least 75
officers and several canine units spent five hours combing the fields.

However, that focused search was ended and detectives pursued other leads,
with deputies driving back roads in the area.

Police later said they had one person in custody but weren't sure yet if he
was one of the two suspects. Bradshaw said authorities also wanted to talk
to a 19-year-old male but he did not call him a suspect or explain
investigators' interest in him.

The chase began after a Belle Glade resident called police to report that a
neighbor's car was being stolen. Deputies who responded saw the car and
followed it.

The sheriff identified the dead officers as 13-year veteran Donta Manuel,
33, and Jonathan Wallace, 23, who had been with the sheriff's office for 1½
years.

The injured deputy was being treated for head injuries.

<snip>

Of course, they're going to blame the fleeing criminals for the two deaths -
not the incompetence of the PD.

John B.