Probe: OPD cops broke policy to chase suspect

An internal investigation found two Orlando Police Department officers violated agency policy when they sped after a suspect as he fled through west Orlando in November before the suspect crashed his SUV into two other vehicles — killing a passenger in one of them.

After seeing 38-year-old Calvin Baronville roll through a stop sign, the officers, Jeremy Pergerson and Maxwell Persons, “intentionally continued to follow” his Chevy Tahoe as he tried to evade them, the officers and suspect at times exceeding 70 mph, according to an Internal Affairs report.

Agency policy prohibits pursuits over traffic violations. The officers also never radioed to report the pursuit before the crash, investigator Christopher

Carty wrote in the report, which was obtained by the Orlando Sentinel through a public records request.

Pergerson and Persons were each given a suspension for violating the agency’s policy on vehicle pursuits and written censures for failing to turn on their body cameras when they decided to conduct a traffic investigation.

The incident happened Nov. 6, 2019, when Pergerson and Persons were patrolling near downtown Orlando and saw Baronville run a stop sign at Clear Lake Way and West Church Street. The officers began following Baronville as he drove through the Parramore neighborhood, watching him violate multiple traffic laws, Persons wrote in an arrest report later.

While trailing him, the officers flashed their police lights and briefly sounded their siren while driving through a red light at an intersection, Persons wrote. The officers briefly lost sight of Baronville but, as they drove up to Ferguson Drive, they saw he had crashed into two other vehicles.

When Pergerson and Persons approached Baronville, he got out of his car and ran, ignoring police commands to stop, Persons wrote. Persons used his Taser, striking Baronville on the head and torso.

A 23-year-old woman who was the passenger in the vehicle Baronville struck was taken from the crash scene to a hospital, where she died.

Pergerson and Persons insisted in field reports that Baronville gave no indications that he realized the officers were following him.

But Carty disputed that, noting two instances when Baronville made illegal turns. Despite the officers driving upward of 70 mph at some points, they still lost sight of Baronville, which indicated he “was clearly also traveling well over the posted speed limit.” Baronville then sped through the Ferguson Drive intersection without stopping, causing the fatal crash.

“All of this occurred with no radio traffic from Officer Jeremy Pergerson or Officer Maxwell Persons until coming upon the accident,” Carty wrote in a summary of the investigation.

In determining the officers violated policy, Carty specifically noted their use of emergency lights and siren when traveling through an intersection to follow Baronville, which he said went against a rule that says officers following a suspect “must adhere to traffic laws and traffic control devices.” The policy also says officers “shall immediately discontinue following the vehicle unless it meets the criteria for a pursuit” once the suspect “speeds away or takes any evasive action.”

That criteria requires that officers “have a reasonable suspicion that a fleeing suspect has committed or has attempted to commit a violent forcible felony” before pursuing. OPD policy specifically prohibits pursuits “for misdemeanor offenses, traffic, or civil infractions.”

No evidence suggested the officers caused the fatal crash, Carty wrote.

Both officers forfeited eight hours of vacation time in lieu of the suspension.

Baronville is facing charges of possession of cannabis with intent to sell or deliver and possession of more than 20 grams of marijuana.

A month after the crash involving Baronville, another fatal crash happened as police were following a suspect near Westmoreland Drive and West Church Street. In that incident, which happened just before noon Dec. 23, officers in unmarked cars were following a suspect who was driving a vehicle that had been reported stolen.

When Sgt. Troy Achey encountered the vehicle near Coyler Street, the suspect struck Achey’s patrol car and sped off, later running a red light and crashing into a vehicle stopped at the light, OPD said.

In an Internal Affairs probe, investigator Amanda Dowson determined Achey’s actions “did not contribute to the crash,” but she couldn’t “confirm or refute” whether he violated the agency’s pursuit policy. She recommended he be cleared of the potential violation.