Family Remembers Woman Killed In Stockyards Crash
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - The family of a woman killed in a crash in Fort Worth's Stockyards, following a police pursuit of a burglary suspect, said Friday she was just out getting the car ready for a trip out of town.
Gaudencia Meza, 58, was killed in the crash. Her husband Constantino was still in the hospital Friday with chest injuries.
The man police were chasing Thursday, Luis Young, was moved to the Tarrant County jail Friday, on charges of theft, burglary and evading arrest causing death.
The 26-year-old had been in jail earlier this summer, and has a criminal history including assault and theft.
Fort Worth police released portions of their pursuit policy Friday. Police said officers were chasing Young, a suspect in burglaries, after he drove off from a traffic stop.
One paragraph of the policy says a supervisor or primary pursuit officer should call off a pursuit when "…the risks associated with continued pursuit are greater than the public safety benefit of making an immediate apprehension."
A sample pursuit policy from the Texas Police Chiefs Association, suggests officers should stay four to six seconds behind a suspect. Police had said Thursday it wasn't immediately clear how far back officers were.
Police said Friday they were continuing to provide peer support services to one of the officers involved, described as "distraught" over the wreck.
Meza had four children, one of whom is a police officer for a local agency. He said his mother and father came to the country with him when he was a baby. They had recently completed a retirement home in Mexico, where they planned to spend summers in the future.
Family was gathering at the couple's Fort Worth home Friday evening. They were trying to find help getting permission for family still in Mexico, to come to the U.S. for Meza's funeral.