SAN FRANCISCO — Three robbery suspects who were allegedly inside a van that crashed and killed a city police officer during a chase were charged with murder Thursday, and a fourth was being held on suspicion of murder.
Steven Wayne Petrilli, 19, of Hayward; Carl Lather, 20; and Nicholas Smith, 22; also were charged with manslaughter, evading police and robbery, according to the San Francisco District Attorney’s office.
Jessica Chamberlain, 20, who also was a passenger in the van, was arrested but not yet charged.
Recommended for you
Police are still trying to determine why officer Nick-Tomasito Birco, 39, of South San Francisco joined in Wednesday’s pursuit of the Dodge van without telling dispatchers.
At least two other cruisers were chasing the van on streets in the city’s Portola district when it hit Birco’s car, which spun around, hit a curb and landed on its side. The van slammed into a home and hit other parked cars.
At the time of the crash, Petrilli, the alleged driver, was out on bail pending charges in a 2005 burglary and a separate case of lewd conduct with a 13-year-old girl in 2004, police said.
The chase started after the suspects allegedly robbed and assaulted a man at a bus stop, according to police.Birco’s cruiser arrived at an intersection where the fleeing van ran a stop sign and crashed into it, but dispatch records showed Birco did not radio in to say he was taking part in the chase, according to investigators. Birco had been on the force for five years.<
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.