Stuart police are answering questions about a police chase that ended in the death of an innocent driver, the third case of a bystander being killed during a law enforcement pursuit on the Treasure Coast in less than a year.
Stuart police said an officer last Thursday tried to pull over Jerauis Jean, 23, for a traffic violation.
Police said Jean didn’t pull over, and led the officer on a nearly two-mile chase, at one point going 80 mph, that ended on U.S. Highway 1 and Southeast Central Parkway when Jean crashed his Toyota into a MARTY Transit bus.
According to the arrest report, the transit bus rear-ended a red BMW with two people inside, the impact of which sent the BMW into the back of a black GMC Terrain.
Florida Highway Patrol said a 76-year-old man driving the BMW died, while his 74-year-old female passenger was sent to the hospital with “incapacitating injuries.” Both were innocent bystanders.
“I do know that that officer gave everything he had to try to save that gentleman’s life,” Jerlyn Johnson, who said she saw the officer giving CPR, said. “Last Thursday was pretty horrible.
Stuart Police Chief Joseph Tumminelli told WPTV Tuesday that Jean was originally being pulled over for a traffic citation.
The officer has been placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation.
“I want to make sure that I am fully transparent and make sure that the officer did follow policy because obviously, the optics of it aren’t good,” Tuminelli said.
Tumenelli said when assessing if the officer followed protocol there’s a lot to consider.
He said an officer has to take the amount of traffic on the road, the speed the officer has to go to continue the pursuit, and the severity of the crime into account before deciding whether or not to pursue, among other factors.
“If this was at rush hour and he was doing 90 mph, probably not a good idea to continue that pursuit,” Tuminelli said.
Tuminelli said while the investigation is ongoing, in this case, the officer seems to have taken the correct precautions.
Tuminelli said at the start of the chase, Jean was traveling 35 mph then 55, and didn’t reach 80 mph until reaching U.S. Highway 1.
“I can tell you that the average speed overall, from start to finish, is approximately 53 mph,” Tuminelli said.
Tuminelli also said after watching surveillance footage, traffic appeared to be light at the time, and said the officer only had about 100 seconds to make his decision.
Last May, a St. Lucie County deputy hit and killed a 27-year-old pedestrian, Kaitlyn Kohler, on U.S. Highway 1 in Port St. Lucie while also responding to aid in a traffic citation call.
FHP later said he was going at least 100 mph shortly before the crash.
In February, a truck driver, Arsenio Mas, was killed on the job when his semi-truck collided with a trooper’s cruiser during a high-speed chase on Interstate 95 in St. Lucie County.
“Is a traffic citation really worth the high-speed chase?” asked Hussey.
“It depends on the circumstances, I can tell you we’ve had certain instances of violence in that area, and I can tell you that we don’t know what the intention of this individual was at this point. Was he up to nefarious activity?” Tuminelli said. “If the officer disengaged in that pursuit, the same incident could have happened without the officer behind him. So like I said, we’re looking at this incident and I’m going to make a decision.”
FHP is handling the criminal side of the investigation.
The agency told WPTV Tuesday they are not releasing the names of the victims.
Jean was arrested and booked into Martin County jail.
He is facing charges of fleeing, disregarding safety resulting in injury and death, driving while license suspended and killing of a human being with a vehicle.
Tuminelli said he believes the results of the internal investigation may be complete by the end of the week.