Greenfield police share dashcam video showing successful end to pursuit of vehicle stolen from dealership

GREENFIELD -- Greenfield police are sharing dashcam video that shows a PIT (pursuit intervention technique) maneuver being used to successfully stop a vehicle that was fleeing officers back on May 6th.

Police say the vehicle had been stolen from a car dealership -- and four people fled on foot after the vehicle crashed, once the PIT maneuver was performed.

One of the suspects in this case was on GPS monitoring for a carjacking. Police say he attacked an elderly woman.

Another suspect was later reported to have been firing a gun out the window of this stolen vehicle while driving in his neighborhood, police say.

Police say PIT maneuvers like these are used by officers to stop a pursuit as soon as possible, as police say the longer a pursuit continues, the greater the danger to the community.

"The suspect vehicle usually doesn't stop," Brian Dorow, the dean of criminal justice at Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) said.

Police say when it comes to stolen vehicles, in many cases, suspects are stealing the cars and then using them to engage in violent, felony crimes like robbery, carjacking and "rolling drug houses."

Greenfield Police Department -- PIT maneuver on vehicle stolen from dealership during pursuit on May 6th

Officials with the Greenfield Police Department say all officers are trained to use PIT maneuvers to end a pursuit whenever conditions allow for it to be done safely.

Greenfield police said in a post on Facebook that the suspects in this case were "engaging in dangerous, violent behavior, putting our community members in extreme danger."



Dorow said these PIT maneuvers aren't standard practice for all law enforcement agencies.

"It really coincides with their pursuit policy," Dorow said.

Dorow said there are only a handful of agencies in the Milwaukee area that send officers to the Wisconsin State Patrol to learn the PIT maneuver. Milwaukee police, for example, will only pursue a vehicle if the suspect committed a violent crime.

"You`ll usually use that in an open area.  Or a very unbusy roadway," Dorow said.

Dorow says car thefts are on the rise, and noted that drug dealers tend to switch vehicles to throw off police.