Madera County Sheriff’s Office officials say a car chase that resulted in the death of a man and three teens accused of vehicle burglary was justified based on the agency’s policy.
On Sunday, four people, including three teenagers, died in a single-vehicle crash early in the morning when the vehicle fled a Madera County sheriff at high speeds, officials said. A fifth passenger, 18, was hospitalized with critical injuries, authorities said.
The pursuit by deputies covered approximately 1.3 miles and lasted about one minute, Madera County Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Kate Woertman said in a statement to The Bee.
The central San Joaquin Valley has seen several vehicle pursuits involving multiple police and sheriff agencies over the last year alone — including at least two others that involved minors.
In recent years, vehicle pursuits have raised concerns about risks or injury and death to innocent bystanders, law enforcement, as well as the fleeing suspects. Some California cities have more restrictive rules for when vehicle pursuits should be initiated in light of fatalities to both bystanders and officers. Meanwhile, a nationwide analysis of law enforcement agency data found that if an officer is chasing someone, the suspect is much more likely to be fleeing because of a minor offense than because of a serious crime.
According to the Madera County Sheriff Office’s policy, deputies are authorized to initiate a pursuit when they reasonably believe a suspect, after being given a lawful signal to stop, is attempting to evade detention or arrest by fleeing in a vehicle.
Deputies should consider the seriousness of the suspected crime before initiating a pursuit, according to the Madera County Sheriff’s Office policy. They should also consider whether the identity of the suspect has been verified and whether there is comparatively minimal risk in allowing the suspect to be apprehended at a later time, the policy says.
“No single factor automatically authorizes or prohibits pursuit,” Woertman said.
Deputies with the Madera County Sheriff’s Office received calls around 1:10 a.m. reporting several people breaking into vehicles near El Vado Drive and Avenue 18 1/2. When deputies arrived, they spotted a vehicle matching the description provided by callers. The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed traveling from Road 26 and Avenue 17 to Avenue 17 and Highway 99.
Woertman said that the decision to initiate this vehicle pursuit was warranted based on the alleged crimes.
“In this case, the deputy was responding to two separate 911 calls reporting vehicle burglaries in progress. When the deputy located the vehicle, it immediately fled at a high rate of speed and disregarded traffic laws, reinforcing the deputy’s reasonable suspicion that the occupants were involved in the reported crimes,” she said.
The sheriff office’s policy outlines factors to consider when deciding whether to initiate or continue a pursuit, she said. But these factors are meant to be evaluated collectively, not in isolation.
For example, extended pursuits of violators for misdemeanors not involving violence, risk of serious harm, or weapons are “generally discouraged.”
Officers are also to consider other persons in or on the pursued vehicle, such as passengers, co-offenders and/or hostages, the policy says. The age of the vehicle’s occupants was not known to the officer when he initiated the pursuit, according to Woertman.
“As is common in most pursuit situations, including this one, deputies did not know how many occupants were in the vehicle or the ages and identities of those inside,” she said.
Recent Fresno area vehicle pursuits
In January, the Madera Police Department arrested a 14-year-old male after a vehicle pursuit involving a stolen vehicle. The suspect vehicle was involved in a minor single-vehicle traffic collision and the suspects, who fled on foot, was later found hiding in a nearby field.
A memorial with candles and flowers has been left at the site of a crash that killed four people early Sunday near the freeway onramp at Highway 99 and Avenue 17 in Madera County. Photographed on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
California Highway Patrol assisted in a multi-agency policy chase in December that started when a Dos Palos person of interest in a homicide investigation fled Merced County and was apprehended in Fresno, where he was taken to a hospital due to a K-9 bite.
A 17 and 19-year-old were arrested after a shooting and vehicle pursuit from Clovis police last month. Last March, two 19-year-olds were killed in a three vehicle-crash from a Clovis police pursuit.
A memorial with candles and flowers has been left at the site of a crash that killed four people early Sunday near the freeway onramp at Highway 99 and Avenue 17 in Madera County. Photographed on Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026. CRAIG KOHLRUSS ckohlruss@fresnobee.com
The Madera Police Department has nearly identical “vehicle pursuit” policy language, as does the Fresno Police Department and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office.
Statewide, some are calling for more legal reform, especially as innocent bystanders were increasingly hurt in statement pursuits in recent years, according to a 2022 report by The Sacramento Bee. The number of police chases reported to CHP jumped at the start of the pandemic, according to The Bee’s analysis of state data between 2018 and 2021.
A 2023 study produced by the Police Executive Research Forum for the U.S. Department of Justice found crashes occur on average in at least 30 percent of vehicle pursuits, and injuries or fatalities occur in an estimated five to 17 percent of pursuits. The report found that agency data indicates most pursuits are related to minor offenses, not serious crimes. A 2020 California Highway Patrol report found that only 0.2% of highway pursuits were related to felony murder crimes.
“Agencies should adopt restrictive vehicle pursuit philosophies that permit pursuits only for a limited and serious set of circumstances, which should be clearly and specifically articulated,” the report recommended.
Vehicle pursuit balance test
According to the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, the state agency responsible for setting minimum training requirements for local law enforcement, cops are to balance the need for a vehicle pursuit with several other factors, including whether a minor is in the suspect vehicle. These factors include, but are not limited to:
Protection of public safetyInitial reason(s) for the stopThe apparent need for immediate capture balanced against the risks to peace officers, innocent motorists and others to protect the publicPassengers in officer’s vehicle Other persons in or on pursued vehicle (e.g., passengers, minors, co-offenders, hostages)Location of the pursuit (e.g., school zone, playground, residential, downtown, jurisdiction, interstate, divided highway, work zone)Dangerous driving of the suspect that creates an unreasonable risk to the public Known or suspected impairment of the suspectEnvironmental factors such as time of day, weather, lighting, visibility, road conditions
This story was originally published February 18, 2026 at 1:41 PM.
The Fresno Bee
Melissa Montalvo is The Fresno Bee’s accountability reporter. Prior to this role, she covered Latino communities for The Fresno Bee as the part of the Central Valley News Collaborative. She also reported on labor, economy and poverty through newsroom partnerships between The Fresno Bee, Fresnoland and CalMatters as a Report for America Corps member.