A high-speed chase over country roads on a summer evening of 2017 resulted in a horrific crash. Three young people in the pickup running from law enforcement all suffered broken necks. We may never know why the 23-year-old driver chose to take off. And another question lingers: why did law enforcement chose to pursue the pickup truck with two passengers inside?
The truck Tahlen Bourassa was driving. 
Authorities chased the pickup over dozens of roads. 
All three passengers were thrown from the vehicle and were unconscious following the crash. 
Intersection near where the chase ended in a crash. 
The area where the truck crashed, ending the pursuit. 
The gravel road where the pursuit came to an end. 
Morgan Ten Eyck with her parents talking about the chase. 
Morgan is unable to speak and she’s still in a wheelchair. 
“I think I’m just angry at the world that my child got hurt. And I don’t have answers,” Michelle Ten Eyck said. 
Her family has struggled to get the health care Morgan needs.
KELOLAND Investigates researched pursuit policies in nearby states. Review what we found in the map below.
Policy Standards
An international expert believes these three questions should be part of the policy standards applied to the evaluation of a pursuit, as well as to the decision to continue a pursuit.
- If the pursuit were to result in injury or death, would a reasonable person understand why the pursuit occurred or was necessary?
- Is the need to immediately catch the suspect more important than the risk created by the pursuit?
- Do the dangers created by the pursuit exceed the dangers posed by letting the perpetrator escape?
