More details in the chase involving Officer Matthews

Let me start by saying my prayers go out to the Matthews family.I have a huge problem with this whole thing.I went back to court in Jan.09 for probation violation but yet I went to my appts., paid my fines on time, didn't get in any trouble,passed all drug screens and even did a year of intense with NO PROBLEMS.Because i had a probation officer that told me in the start she would have me in jail within a year and she had it out for me(always her word against mine). I was placed on a year of house arrest.I'm a mother of two and have been clean for sometime and why i get this for the life of me i can't figure it out. These guys are out running the streets still dealing drugs and killing people and i'm the one on house arrest.My faith is gone

Sorry for the family of the officer who crashed his car and died. I still don't think the men in the car fleeing from the police are responsible for the officer's death though. The men breaking the law were going 65 miles an hour while not stopping for the officer pursuieng them. The officer killed was going over 100 miles per hour, the box he swerved to avoid was on a street the offenders hadn't been on according to the news. It wasn't necessary for him to be going over 100 miles per hour and his swerving to avoid the box had nothing to do with the chase of the offenders. So what now? Anyone breaking the law in anyway will be charged with murder if an officer wrecks his car and dies? Like I said, sorry the officer is dead but I think it is wrong to charge the people with murder.

The punk was charged with 2nd Degree Murder, it should be Felony Murder, all three of them should have been charged with it. The DA blew it. These guys, all three of them, were involved in the commission of a felony when Officer Matthews died. SUBCHAPTER III. OFFENSES AGAINST THE PERSON Homicide § 14-17. Murder in the first and second degree defined; punishment. A murder which shall be perpetrated by means of poison, lying in wait, imprisonment, starving, torture, or by any other kind of willful, deliberate, and premeditated killing, or which shall be committed in the perpetration or attempted perpetration of any arson, rape or a sex offense, robbery, kidnapping, burglary, or other felony committed or attempted with the use of a deadly weapon shall be deemed to be murder in the first degree, a Class A felony, and any person who commits such murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment in the State's prison for life without parole as the court shall determine pursuant to G.S. 15A-2000, except that any such person who was under 17 years of age at the time of the murder shall be punished with imprisonment in the State's prison for life without parole. Provided, however, any person under the age of 17 who commits murder in the first degree while serving a prison sentence imposed for a prior murder or while on escape from a prison sentence imposed for a prior murder shall be punished with death or imprisonment in the State's prison for life without parole as the court shall determine pursuant to G.S. 15A-2000. All other kinds of murder, including that which shall be proximately caused by the unlawful distribution of opium or any synthetic or natural salt, compound, derivative, or preparation of opium, or cocaine or other substance described in G.S. 90-90(1)d., when the ingestion of such substance causes the death of the user, shall be deemed murder in the second degree, and any person who commits such murder shall be punished as a Class B2 felon. (1893, cc. 85, 281; Rev., s. 3631; C.S., s. 4200; 1949, c. 299, s. 1; 1973, c. 1201, s. 1; 1977, c. 406, s. 1; 1979, c. 682, s. 6; 1979, c. 760, s. 5; 1979, 2nd Sess., c. 1251, ss. 1, 2; 1981, c. 662, s. 1; 1987, c. 693; 1989, c. 694; 1993, c. 539, s. 112; 1994, Ex. Sess., c. 21, s. 1; c. 22, s. 4; c. 24, s. 14(c); 1997-456, s. 27.)

The box in the road... Yes he tried to avoid it but the car being chased should have pulled over from the get go. They caused the crime and the accident to happen. God Bless Matthews family coworkers and friends. What a sad event.

If this guy would have pulled over when the lights and siren came on, would officer Matthews still have tried to get to that scene with the same urgency? Probably. These convicted felons made the choice to run to avoid being busted again and an officer died responding to their ongoing (running) criminal behavior. They should be charged with manslaughter IMO. Had they pulled over and surrendered, and officer Matthews still wrecked and died, then no. (Innocent until proven guilty) If nothing else, use this time to make a law or clarify to anyone that makes the conscious decision to run away from LEO, that they will be charged with manslaughter should ANYONE die as a result of or related to THEIR criminal actions. It may already be a law, I don't know and I think that's the rub on both sides. My prayers and thoughts are with this officers family and friends.

first it is a terrible thing that has happened and my heart does go out to the parents of this YOUNG man! now i dont know what happened because i was not there. so dont get mad im just asking questions. if he was sitting at shipyard blvd and carolina beach, he was about 3.5 miles from s college rd. was he indeed the closes officer, and was anyone else, other than officer richards involved in the final stop the suv last but not least i am 44 and damn lucky to be here. i have done some very stupid things with cars in my youth. PLEASE ALL OFFICERS, the big fords and mussle cars, are not built for handling or stoping at high speeds. they are built to go fast in a straight line. i dont care what class you have been too, or how long you have been driving these cars. please i know it is important to catch bad guys. but your lives are important too. 70 is fast enough.

My thoughts and prayers go out to Officer Matthews' families and friends. I pray for all of the Wilmington Officers, SWAT, and all personnel who do an outstanding job to protect the people of New Hanover County NC.

There seemed to be some story telling going, if we are to believe the tale, as it is told here: "At 1:15 a.m., Richards and Schwartz saw an SUV on South College. Their lights and sirens went on immediately, as they attempted to stop the SUV for speeding. Inside the car were three people: the driver, Anthony Pierce, Eric Smith, and Matthew Hendy - both passengers. All three are convicted felons. Pierce spent ten years in prison in Pennsylvania for armed robbery. Smith served two years in federal prison on drug charges, and faced a number of drug charges within the state of NC. Matthew Hendy was convicted of trafficking cocaine earlier in the month." How would they know who was driving the vehicle and who were passenger's at this time, since the officers had not stopped the vehicle yet....? "The SUV pulled over by Long Leaf Hills, or so Corporal Richards thought. Once he started getting out of his car, the SUV took off. This is where the chase began.According to a legal brief filed by the DA’s office, not only was the SUV speeding and driving through stop signs, but bags of marijuana were being thrown from car windows on both the passenger and driver's sides. That was when Corporal Richards called for backup." How could the officers determine that the occupants of the fleeing vehicle were throwing out bags of marijuana... ? "Officer Matthews and Officer Allison Jahreis had been parked on Carolina Beach Road at the time of the call. They immediately threw on their lights and sirens and headed toward Long Leaf Hills; Matthews was leading the way. His top speed along College Road is reported at 102 mph. A speed, fellow officers say, is allowed on a stretch of road like Shipyard Boulevard, with little road traffic at that time of night. Because convicted felons were leading the chase, and according to police, in possession of drugs, that type of pursuit is considered acceptable. According to the prosecution's brief, the marijuana all three suspects were throwing out of the window had been stolen from other drug dealers earlier that night." Again, how did the officers know who was driving the vehicle, who were passenger's at this time, and in possession of drugs, since the officers had not stopped the vehicle yet....? Without acceptable answers to these questions, "that type of pursuit is considered acceptable," is not a true statement and Officer Matthews' actions and subsequent death are not the extended responsibility of the driver of the vehicle. Without some additional information to support this allegations, this statement is supposition on the part of the prosecutor and not established fact. "Given Corporal Richards’ background in narcotics, he knew this was a dangerous situation. In his experience, drug dealers are almost always armed. It turned out, these suspects were. Someone reported finding a .40 caliber handgun near the Senior Center on South College Road the following day. The gun was allegedly thrown from the vehicle at one point during the chase and it was fully loaded." Corp. Richards' supposition is a valid and wise in such situations; however it was a supposition and can only be alleged till positive proof can be established. "As Officer Matthews was traveling down Shipyard, toward South College, at about 100 mph, he saw a cardboard box in the road. The box had nothing to do with the suspects; they were never driving along Shipyard Blvd. at any point in the night. Matthews swerved to avoid the box, and his car turned left, straight into a set of trees, killing him." We will never what flashed through Officer Matthews mind when served to avoid the box, however that action cost him his life... Tragic and untimely, but it is a loose thread and a slippery slope to stretch the law to fit the facts of this case. As a taxpayer and citizen, I sincerely hope the court case will be prepared with justice in mind, and not just a PR statement to set the facts to the prosecution's case. The accused deserve justice just as we all do, and it appears from the legitimate allegations that they will receive lengthy time to consider their actions. However, no stretch of the truth or the law will bring the young Officer Matthews back.

I am all for frying these guys...BUT NOT FOR MURDER of any officer. The box, NOW we find, wasn't put in the road by the suspects. The box was there, Officer Matthews died as a result of his own driving error. ONE-HUNDRED TWO? At that speed you have ZERO chances of mitigating any obstacle in the roadway. Luckily it was a cardboard box and not a drunk stumbling across the road. I'm sorry, but these guys have ZERO culpability for this officers death...by the way this is being handled...next time I'm stopped and another officer is called, if he gets killed in a wreck its MY FAULT...Like I said, I HATE scumbags like these guys and I don't think they need to see the light of day...but I don't think they are guilty of murder.