Man chased by police crashes and dies | Crime

ALBANY - All that's left of the Hyundai Elantra Ricardo Bernabeu was driving at the time of the accident is a burned up shell of a car.

State police say it was reported stolen in Canastota, N.Y.  The 25-year-old was spotted headed east on the Thruway between exits 27 and 28. That's when troopers began their pursuit.  The chase lasted some 40 miles before Bernabeu got off at Exit 23, skidded and then crashed into trees.

"It was a high-speed and at times it recorded triple digits," explained State Police Capt. Gilberto Perez.

Rochester Police arrested Bernabeu last week for grand larceny.  At the time of Monday's accident, 5 a.m., troopers say he had been behind the wheel of not one but two stolen vehicles, which are felonies. 

A state police spokesman maintains troopers acted within protocol and weighed the severity of the crime with the risk to the public.

"If this had happened at 8 or 9 when there are a lot of people on the road going to work, I think police would have broken off the pursuit," said Tom Carr who is an attorney for Tully Rinckey.

Regardless of the circumstances, Jay Carnevale would like to see all departments ban high-speed chases.  His son Harry died four years ago when a woman Albany Police were chasing through Arbor Hill ran into the 17-year-old. 

"Here's a person (Bernabeu) who wound up dead. Regardless of who he is it's a shame but this person could have killed others or injured them," said Carnevale.

The Carnevale family recently received a settlement from the city of Albany.  Carr says that's not likely for the Bernabeu family because of a recent Supreme Court decision siding with a police department over someone who had committed a crime, but was disabled after a police chase.