The mother of an ASU student killed last year in a collision with a police car is striving to change Arizona's pursuit laws.
Evan Shelley, a computer systems engineering junior, was killed Sept. 25 in Mesa after Officer Christopher Valdez, 31, hit Shelley's 1988 Chevrolet Nova on the driver's side. Shelley was pronounced dead after being taken to Scottsdale Osborn Hospital.
Valdez was engaged in a police pursuit of a stolen car but had been instructed by DPS to discontinue his pursuit.
Though originally charged with vehicular manslaughter, Valdez entered a plea bargain on March 13, reducing the charge to negligent homicide, which carries a year in jail and four years of probation.
Valdez's plea agreement was the catalyst for Evan's mother, Mary Shelley, to take action against DPS. Not only is she suing DPS for $5 million, she is also seeking a change in DPS's existing pursuit laws. She wants to raise awareness that there "shouldn't be different laws for officers and civilians."
Shelley alleges that because Valdez is a police officer, he is getting a lighter sentence. She is starting a letter-writing campaign to the case's judge, John Gaylord, before the April 23 sentencing.
"If I were in (Valdez's) situation, I would be held responsible as a civilian. Police officers should be held to the same standard or higher, because they're there to protect and serve," Shelley said. "We'd like to see support and show the judge that they need to be just as liable as anyone else."
DPS spokesman Frank Valenzuela said the department does not believe there needs to be a change in pursuit policy.
"We have a responsibility," Valenzuela said, "and that responsibility is to try to catch criminals, and pursuits are one of our options."
"We have set rules, and this accident did not occur because of our policy," Valenzuela said. "This accident occurred because the policy was not followed. If the policy had been followed, this accident would never have happened."
Valdez was reportedly going more than 25 miles per hour over the speed limit and went through a red light. Valdez's lights and siren were reportedly not on.
However, Shelley believes that by changing policy, accidents like the one that happened to Evan would not have been an issue. She said DPS should use helicopters to follow offenders, rather than endangering people on the roads.
"They say it's too expensive," Shelley said. "But at the beginning of the AIDS virus, people said it was too expensive to test blood for the virus, but DPS doesn't realize that (helicopter pursuits) can save lives, even though it's more expensive."
However, Valenzuela said that not many lives would be saved if there were a change.
"This is the first time in DPS history that an officer's collision resulted in a citizen's death," he said.
Reach the reporter at lindsey.holder@asu.edu
