Lawsuit possible in HPD fatal chase case

05:21 PM CST on Monday, January 12, 2009

By Lee McGuire / 11 News HOUSTON—The family of a man badly injured in a police chase over the weekend is reportedly setting the stage for a lawsuit against the City of Houston. Those family members tell 11 News that what they really want is for police to change the way they pursue suspects.

The high-speed chase happened Saturday morning in a neighborhood in southeast Houston. Police say that officers were trying to stop a man driving a stolen pickup truck.

The three-minute pursuit ended when the suspect crashed into another car, killing the driver, Homero Rosales, and injuring his passenger, Maurillo Alvarado, say police.

11 News photo

Maurillo Alvarado is being treated at a local hospital.

Police say that it was Alvarado’s birthday. They say he and Rosales, his best friend, were getting ready for a barbecue.

Now Rosales is dead and Alvarado is trying to recover, said Alvarado’s ex-wife Gloria Vasquez.

“He cannot move. Most of his bones are broken (including) his shoulder, and ribs. He cannot move he is in severe pain,” said Vasquez.

The man suspected of stealing the pickup in the first place is Frank Marron, 17. Marron is now charged with murder and facing a $100,000 bond.

The family of the man he injured doesn’t just blame him for the crash, they say that they also blame the police and the chase policy that gives HPD supervisors wide discretion to authorize pursuits at high speed.

“The policy needs to be changed, so many accidents have happened and I feel that they are responsible for him being in the hospital,” said Vasquez.

Alvarado’s attorney, Domingo Garcia, says Houston’s chase policy needs to change. “Other cities like the City of Dallas have already changed their pursuit policies. They no longer pursue anybody unless there has been a violent criminal offense committed,” said Garcia.

Alvarado’s family is asking the police to pay for his medical bills and lost wages and change the chase policy.

“He’s suffering. And we just keep imagining that. God, there are so many kids playing tag and hide and seek and it’s just so sad we need some kind of change for the community, to help us out,” said Alvarado’s son, Gabriel Alvarado.