Officials identify teenager killed in DC crash after 30-mile police chase

A third teenager Inside the car, 19-year-old Demetri Koger survived and was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. DC police have charged him with fugitive from justice.

The accident followed a lengthy, multi-jurisdictional chase that began near Annapolis and continued through Anne Arundel and Prince George’s counties. en route to the county, where U.S. Park Police joined the pursuit. Anne Arundel County police said they initiated the pursuit because they suspected the car was connected to several armed robberies.

The consequences of the fatal accident have left the grieving relatives uncertain and questioning the duration of the chase.

“Why are you chasing a car that’s going so fast?” asked Terrina Riley, a former partner of Harris’ father. Riley, 34, said she was a mother figure to Harris and rushed to the scene of the accident Tuesday afternoon.

Harris had several siblings and two daughters of his own. she said. Koger, the teenager arrested at the scene, is one of Harris’ brothers, Riley said.

Washington DC police said in a press release on Wednesday that the BMW was traveling at high speed when it lost control, veered to the right and hit the curb. It struck a tree with such force that the vehicle broke in half, the front section spun and eventually came to a stop against a metal fence.

At a press conference on Tuesday, Anne Arundel County Police Chief Amal Awad issued a blanket defense of her officers’ actions, citing the vehicle’s alleged connection to multiple armed robberies and a policy that authorizes police to pursue vehicles involved in capital crimes. She said she “fully supports officers in their decisions regarding pursuits.”

Anne Arundel Police Department spokesman Justin Mulcahy said Wednesday that the actions of officers from that force “were fully consistent with our policies,” but declined to publicly disclose the department’s pursuit policies “due to the tactical operations and investigative techniques contained in the policies.”

An Anne Arundel police spokesman said county police followed the car into the county but then “became the secondary law enforcement agency” and were not near the car at the time of the crash.

The US Park Police referred questions about the investigation to the DC Police, but pointed to the pursuit policy on its website, which has been in effect since 2018. Under that policy, Park Police may pursue a vehicle if the suspect is wanted for a crime involving violence or the threat of violence, which includes crimes such as murder, sexual assault and robbery. They may also pursue vehicles if the suspect inside is “wanted for or has committed a crime and is known to be in possession of a firearm.”

The policy also states that when conducting chases, Park Police must follow all federal laws or applicable state laws if they are more restrictive than Park Police policies.

In Washington, the law — which lawmakers loosened in a bill passed in March — is stricter. It says police officers can only launch a car chase after they’ve exhausted all other options. The law also requires officers to believe a fleeing suspect has committed or attempted to commit a violent crime or poses an imminent threat to another person. The law also allows police to pursue a suspect only when they believe it is immediately necessary to protect another person from harm and when they believe the pursuit will not seriously injure anyone other than the fleeing suspect.

A Park Police spokesperson declined to answer questions about whether DC law applied to officers during the DC portion of the pursuit, writing in an email that “policy evaluation is part of the ongoing investigation.”

Karl Bickel, a former Justice Department policy analyst for community policing, said that based on publicly available information, he believed the chase was unjustified because it put the public in danger.

“I just don’t see how you can justify a chase like that, especially at that time of day and over 30 miles,” said Bickel, who is also a former deputy chief of the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office and a former D.C. police officer. “The decision whether or not to conduct a pursuit should be based on the danger it poses to the public, not the severity of the offense.”

Even if someone is suspected in a robbery, police may look for other ways to arrest the person later, Bickel said, to avoid putting people at risk by driving or walking near a chase.

Koger is still undergoing surgery and is scheduled to appear in court Thursday. Last year, he was charged in Prince George’s County with having a loaded handgun in a vehicle, and earlier this year he was sentenced to six months of house arrest and two years of probation, court records show. Anne Arundel police have not charged Koger in connection with the robberies allegedly linked to the BMW.

“Investigators are still investigating what incidents the suspects are connected to in Anne Arundel County,” Mulcahy said in an email.

No attorney was listed for Koger in DC, and his listed attorney in the Prince George’s County case declined to comment on the gun charges.

Standing on the scene Tuesday, Riley said life was sometimes tough for Harris. But she remembered how much he loved to do crafts as a child and how much he hated going potty. She will remember him as a bright boy who remembered random facts he learned in school, such as the circumferences of different planets.

“We will miss him,” Riley said.

Keith L. Alexander contributed to this report.