{"id":237765,"date":"2026-03-26T16:40:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:40:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/237765\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T16:40:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:40:51","slug":"attorney-for-families-questions-madera-county-pursuit-that-killed-4-teens-on-highway-99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/237765\/","title":{"rendered":"Attorney for families questions Madera County pursuit that killed 4 teens on Highway 99"},"content":{"rendered":"

FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 New details are emerging after a deadly pursuit in Madera County last month that left four people dead and another critically injured<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The chase began when deputies with the Madera County Sheriff\u2019s Office attempted to stop a vehicle suspected of being involved in a series of car break-ins. Authorities say the driver refused to pull over, leading deputies on a high-speed pursuit that ended in a crash along Highway 99.<\/p>\n

Four people were killed.<\/p>\n

Now, an attorney representing three of the victims\u2019 families says the pursuit should have never happened.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf the police did not cause this high-speed pursuit, these kids would still be alive,\u201d said attorney Nathan Miller.<\/p>\n

The families of three teenage passengers \u2014 identified as Stephen Rodriguez, Benito Mendoza, and Freddie Garcia \u2014 say the victims were not involved in any criminal activity. Miller says the teens, who ranged in age from 13 to 16, believed they were simply going on a late-night ride.<\/p>\n

According to Miller, the only survivor of the crash told him the teens did not know about any alleged crimes and even begged to get out of the car once the chase began.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey thought they were going on a late-night joyride, and it turned into the worst thing that ever happened,\u201d Miller said. \u201cThey were actually begging to get out of the car when the police chase was occurring.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities have said the 25-year-old driver was allegedly involved in criminal misconduct earlier in the night. However, Miller disputes any claims that the teenage passengers were connected to those activities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe allegations that the children were somehow engaging in criminal misconduct, that\u2019s absolutely false,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Miller also argues deputies already had enough information about the vehicle and did not need to initiate a pursuit at high speeds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was no basis for law enforcement to engage in a high-speed pursuit at speeds of over 100 miles an hour, not knowing whether there were other victims in the car,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The families are now seeking accountability as they grieve the loss of their loved ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very confident they\u2019re going to receive justice,\u201d Miller added. \u201cIt\u2019s really important for me to clear the names of these kids.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. (FOX26) \u2014 New details are emerging after a deadly pursuit in Madera County last month that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237766,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-237765","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237765\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}