Members of a St. Louis family injured by the subjects of a police chase said Wednesday the entire situation should have been handled differently.
On Tuesday morning, Lee was at St. Louis Lambert International Airport with her sister-in-law, Candice Lee, and her two nephews, Caleb Lee, 9, and Evan Lee, 5.
The family had just returned home from a dream vacation to Disney World.
“We had a really good time because it was the first time they had seen the beach or the ocean,” Lee said.
But things took a tragic and unexpected turn as the four were in a car preparing to leave the second terminal.
Lee recalled, “I just looked to my left and it was heading right for us. Fast.”
Their sedan was T-boned by a speeding SUV driven by multiple suspects who were being chased at the time by Normandy Police.
Lee said the impact knocked Caleb, who was in the backseat with his brother, unconscious instantly.
“I was holding him and screaming his name,” she said.
At the time, Lee said she wasn’t sure what exactly had happened, but remembered seeing police with guns drawn.
She said, “I didn’t know if it was a shootout or what. There were a million things running through my head.”
Turns out, police said the SUV was stolen out of the city a few hours prior to the crash.
Normandy Police spotted the license plate on Interstate 70 and attempted to pull it over. The suspects fled and an officer with four years on the force pursued it onto the airport grounds.
Following the crash, multiple suspects were arrested.
But Lee said the family has questions and concerns about the entire chain of events.
“I hope they realize how their decisions affect other people,” she said.
Lee believes police should have backed off the SUV once it entered the airport.
“With all the traffic and people, it just should not have happened. I think that wasn’t right,” she said.
Now, she is suffering from cuts and scrapes on her face. Candice remains hospitalized in critical condition, as do her two boys.
Lee said Caleb is in the worst shape of them all. “The doctors have done all they can do. Now it’s just up to God,” she said.
But the family continues to be supported by the community. A Go Fund Me page has raised more than $20,000 in two days.
“We feel that support,” Lee said.
Five on Your Side has reached out to Normandy Police about their policies and procedures regarding chases in very populated, public areas. We have not heard back.
St. Louis County Police did say they would look into the officer’s actions as part of their review of the situation.
Three teenage suspects were taken into custody. Police said a weapon was recovered on scene, but after further inspection, it was found to be a replica.
Traffic was blocked in both directions on Lambert International Boulevard, but police have since cleared the scene and all lanes have been reopened.
The Normandy police officer involved in this incident is a four-year veteran with the Normandy Police Department.
The investigation is ongoing.
