Suspect in Toledo police pursuit crashes with four kids inside the car
By: -----
Toledo, OH - A Toledo Police officer came face-to-face with a near tragedy that touched close to home.
The suspect in a pursuit crashed with four children inside the car, according to Toledo police.
The incident was caught on camera.
“Drive like an idiot,” an officer can be heard saying on police body camera footage. “You almost killed them, guy, get in the car.”
Patrolman Kaleb Torbet says the pursuit brought up raw emotions on the job.
“It made me recall some incidents that happened in my life,” Torbet said.
The pursuit started when a car ran a red light at Lagrange Street and Greenbelt Parkway, according to Torbet.
“Turned on my lights to try to get that person to stop to make sure that person was ok to start off, and they immediately started speeding up to get away from us,” Torbet said.
Going down the street, the driver crashed in between a telephone pole and a building.
Officers went to arrest the 20-year-old driver, Kyle Reed, after officers say he tried to run away.
As Torbet goes through the procedures, he makes a discovery.
“Then I heard the kids crying,” Torbet said.
Torbet saw there were four kids left in the car. According to Toledo police, there were two 15-year-olds, a 5-year-old and a 2-year-old.
Seeing the uninjured children in the crashed car took Torbet back to a painful experience from his own life.
“Four days before I started at the Toledo Police Department, my 7-year-old son Carson was involved in a crash in Fulton County,” Torbet said.
Carson was transported to the hospital but did not survive.
“The neurological department, as well as the internal medicine stated that these injuries are going to be terminal,” Torbet said.
Thinking about his own experience, during the arrest, Torbet explained to Reed how his actions could’ve ended the passengers’ young lives.
“I wanted him to understand the gravity of the choices he made,” Torbet said.
Torbet explained the risk he put those kids in by not stopping for the police.
“He would’ve been able to go upon his merry way for the rest of the day,” Torbet said, explaining that if Reed had stopped, he would’ve simply been given a ticket. “Instead, he made a very, very bad choice.”
The children were not harmed in the crash. Reed now faces multiple charges, including four counts of child endangerment. He is set to appear in court March 2.