WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WFLA) – Seven West Palm Beach officers have been charged in connection with a crash crash in Boynton Beach that killed two women last year.
Five of them were members of the gang and habitual criminal suppression team (ghost), who had made the arrest of armed robbers on July 30, 2024, according to the affidavit.
According to NBC affiliate WPTV, officers were searching for 23-year-old Neoni Copeland in connection with another incident that escalated into a police pursuit. Copeland was running away from police with his grey kia tinger when he crashed into another car.
The two women in the car, Marcia Pochette, 57, and her daughter, Jennis Woods, 27, were pregnant at the time. Both died in crashes.
The affidavit revealed that three WPB police vehicles are involved in the pursuit. Two of them were not marked, the Grade Dodge Durango SUV and the black Dodge Ram pickup truck.
Black and white Ford SUV, only one vehicle was marked.
WPTV reported that one of the police cruisers involved in the pursuit showed that they had reached an excessive speed of 119 mph after crash and during the pursuit.
No one was able to activate body cameras during the incident.
Surveillance video drawn from businesses on the scene showed officers fled to the crash site shortly after the fatal shipwreck, and the affidavit pointed out that all officers involved did not confirm the victim, provide assistance or notify paramedics after the fatal crash.
The affidavit further stated that WPB officials were unable to notify Li, on-service ranking officer Richard Dunleavy Junior High, of the crash and subsequent pursuits.
Drivers of all three vehicles, Austin Danielvich, Pierre Etienne and Christopher Lecdahl, were arrested Wednesday. They are accused of leaving the scene of a crash that includes death, a first-degree felony and official misconduct.
The four passengers in the police vehicle, Michael Borgen, William Roysa, Brandan Steadfeldt and Darien Thomas, are all faced with official misconduct charges.
