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Police tape
inconclusive in fatal
pursuit of suspect

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By Rod Thompson
Big Island correspondent

HILO -- A copy of police tape recordings related to a fatal accident Sept. 7 is inconclusive about whether police actions played a role in the accident.

The day of the accident, police said officers pursuing the speeding car which caused the accident "backed off the chase and assumed surveillance of the vehicle" when they got into Hilo traffic.

The tape of the pursuing officers' radio calls contain nothing saying that.

The events began on a Thursday with officers south of Hilo pursuing a speeding car. Officers chased the car about 10 miles into Hilo, where it ran a red light and struck another car at the intersection of Kanoelehua Avenue and Makaala Street.

The accident killed Ellison Sweezey, 31, of Hilo, a woman riding in a car driven Paulyn Estioko, 33, of California. Estioko and Sweezey's daughter, Megan Salvado, 2, were treated for minor injuries and released.

The speeding driver, Richard Rosario, 20, was charged with manslaughter and other offenses.

The copy of the tape provided by police starts with an officer saying, "This guy's not going to stop."

The first seven-minute segment of the tape was originally longer. Maj. Charles Chai said several references to the name of Rosario's girlfriend -- where a dispatcher talks to her about a 911 call --were edited out.

Seven minutes into the tape, the pursuing officer says he is passing the 3-mile marker (entering Hilo).

About 12 minutes into the tape, an officer says, "OK. Just run a stop at, uh, red light at Puainako."

About 20 seconds later, an officer at Makaala Street says, "We've got a 10-19 (accident)."

A police general order says a pursuit should be ended, "when the risk created by the pursuit is unreasonable given the nature of the offense for which the suspect is being pursued and the conditions under which the pursuit must be conducted."

Factors include speed of vehicles and density of traffic.

The order also says, "The decision to terminate shall be made by the pursuit supervisor, or if none is available, by the primary pursuit vehicle."

The tape has no transmission of the pursuing officer asking permission of his supervisor or saying he's making a decision on his own.

During a preliminary hearing for Rosario, a policeman testified that two officers following Rosario were in pursuit with their sirens and blue lights on.

Chai said circumstances of the pursuit are under investigation.