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Three killed in crash after Monona police chase remembered by their friends as 'bright, loving' people

Rashad Nelson was days away from fatherhood. Aaron Willis left behind a daughter and an unborn child. Aajayah Ray was a “very loving tomboy.”

The Dane County Medical Examiner's Office on Friday confirmed the identities of the three people who were killed Monday night when their vehicle crashed into a tree as the driver tried to elude Monona police. Autopsies were done Wednesday and Thursday, but the cause and manner of death are pending, the medical examiner's office said in a statement.

Friends of the three identified them Thursday to the Wisconsin State Journal, describing the three as “bright, loving and compassionate individuals.”

“I’ve spent holidays with these kids, and they’ve helped me and given me good advice and helped me stay grounded in my time of need,” friend Crystal Wilson said. “They were loved and adored by everyone they came in contact with.”

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At about 9 p.m. Monday, officers tried to pull over a vehicle near the corner of Nichols Road and Monona Drive in Monona. The vehicle fled, and police pursued. At some point, the Dane County Sheriff’s Office deployed a tire-deflation device to stop the vehicle, and it crashed at the corner of Femrite Drive and Buckeye Road in the town of Cottage Grove, according to the state Department of Justice’s Division of Criminal Investigation, which is investigating the incident.

It’s not clear why police sought to pull the vehicle over, nor why the driver chose to speed away. Citing the ongoing investigation, officials haven’t released many details of the crash. But the incident has renewed scrutiny of policies that govern when law enforcement can pursue fleeing vehicles.

In the wake of the crash, Monona has tightened its policy on police pursuits, at least for now, the third time the city has re-evaluated the policy since 2020.

In a statement to the Monona City Council Wednesday night, Police Chief Brian Chaney said the department “has decided to temporarily focus our priorities on suspects who we believe to be involved in dangerous and violent felony offenses. This revision is put in place while members of the Monona community and its elected officials have the opportunity to weigh in on what is best for Monona.”

In developing policies for when they will pursue fleeing vehicles, law enforcement and officials weigh the desire to apprehend criminal suspects with the potential danger of chasing them, a pursuit that can threaten the safety of the people in the fleeing vehicle as well as the public.

In November 2022, the Monona City Council approved a change to the policy governing when police can engage in vehicle pursuits, removing the requirement that the people being pursued must be suspected of having committed a violent felony or that they were about to commit one.

The new policy included a dozen factors for officers to consider when deciding whether to pursue a fleeing vehicle, including “whether the suspect represents a serious threat to public safety,” “the safety of the public in the area of the pursuit” and whether the person fleeing has been identified and could be safely arrested later.

That expanded a previous policy, adopted in 2020, in which the City Council changed the requirement that police have “reasonable suspicion” that a violent felony had been committed to instead permit pursuits if police had “probable cause” that such a crime had occurred.

“Having a year’s experience with the ‘old’ policy, in my opinion it was simply far too restrictive,” Ald. Doug Wood said. “It was so restrictive that in too many instances people could simply refuse to stop for the police even when their emergency lights and sirens were operating. That laissez faire attitude was in itself a threat to public safety.”

Chaney on Tuesday declined to say whether the people fleeing Monday were suspected of a violent felony.

On Thursday, citing the advice of city attorneys, Monona Mayor Mary O’Connor referred questions from the State Journal to Chaney. Chaney said he will answer questions about the situation on Friday.

‘Took care of everyone’

Nelson, 30, had been a man of strong faith, something Wilson said the two had bonded over in the seven years they’d known each other. Nelson and his longtime girlfriend, with whom he’d been about to start a family, “stole my heart,” Wilson recalled.

“Rashad loved his entire family and would do anything to keep them safe and on track,” she said. “He took care of everyone who called on him, and everyone did.”

Nelson’s caring nature extended to 19-year-old Ray, the “very loving tomboy who Rashad took under his wing,” according to Wilson.

“We all loved her like family. She was sweet, smart, respectful and loving every time I saw her or interacted with her.”

“She only had nothing but time to grow,” another friend, who goes by Sway Dolo, told the State Journal via Facebook Messenger. “She just grew on me.”

Friends of Ray have started a GoFundMe campaign to help her mother with funeral expenses and other things.

Dolo had known Willis, 30, since childhood and said he had been “trying to get his life together” in recent years after the deaths of his mother and sister.

Wilson admired him for his devotion to his family, his “heart of gold” and “loyal beyond measure” nature.

“He was a devoted father to his daughter and a loyal man to his significant other,” she said. “I know he’s in heaven with his mother and sister now with angel wings because he was truly an earth angel.”

Vehicle was ‘suspicious’

Authorities haven’t said what prompted the attempted traffic stop in Monona on Monday night that escalated into the chase and crash. In a statement, DCI said only that police had deemed the vehicle “suspicious.”

The Dane County Sheriff’s Office assisted Monona police in the pursuit, but the “ongoing investigation prevents us from providing specific details concerning that incident,” sheriff’s office Capt. Kerry Porter said in a statement Thursday afternoon.

While details of the crash are still unknown, Porter said the use of road spikes has proven “safe and effective” in ending pursuits, noting that the system is designed to avoid causing a blowout by using hollow tubes that act as valves, “releasing air from the tires at a slow and controlled rate.”

The officers involved in Monday’s chase have been placed on administrative duty, per agency policy, while DCI investigates the incident with assistance from the Wisconsin State Patrol. Monona police and Dane County Sheriff’s Office squad cars are equipped with dashboard cameras, DCI said.

DCI said it will turn over its reports to the Dane County District Attorney’s Office when the investigation is concluded.

The Washington, D.C-based Police Executive Research Forum, which conducts research and makes recommendations on police policy, last year released a report showing an increase in the number of fatal crashes involving a police pursuit, from 311 in 2015 to 455 in 2020.

It recommends that departments “should adopt restrictive vehicle pursuit philosophies that permit pursuits only for a limited and serious set of circumstances” and that pursuits should only be allowed “for violent crimes and where failure to immediately apprehend the suspect presents an imminent threat to the public based on the suspect’s criminal actions.”

To engage in a vehicle pursuit, Madison police are required to have probable cause “to believe that the vehicle driver and/or occupant(s) has recently committed, is committing, or is about to commit a violent felony,” under that department’s policies.

State Journal reporter Chris Rickert contributed to this report.

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29 seats vacant after round 3 CPS Admissions, DME Gujarat Releases Reporting Schedule For candidates

Gujarat: The Director of Medical Education (DME Gujarat) has released the schedule for the reporting process for round 3 of CPS Diploma courses. The rank-wise result, list of candidates required to report to the help center, and vacant seats after exhaustion of the merit list have also been released.

The selected candidates can pay the fee online or at a designated branch of Axis Bank up to 3.30 pm on 5th January 2024. The last date to report to the help center is 6th January 2024 up to 12:00 pm. Help center working hours from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm (on working days only). Offline payment of fees at a designated branch of Axis Bank can be done during Banking hours on working days only.

The candidate has to pay Tuition Fees for one term (6 months) by Cash OR Demand Draft in favor of ACPUGMEC payable at Gandhinagar.

Sr. No.

Purpose

Amount (Rs.)

Details for Demand Draft (DD)

In favor of

Payable at

1

Tuition Fees for one term (6

months in Govt Institutes/ Self-financed institute

3,00,000/- (3.00 Lakh) – for Merit Quota seat

ACPUGMEC

Gandhinagar

Tuition Fees for one term (6 months for Self- financed institute

6,00,000/- (6.00 Lakh) for Institutional Quot seats (other than DDV & DMRE)

ACPUGMEC

Gandhinagar

Tuition Fees for one term (6 months for Self- financed institute

9,00,000/- (9.00 Lakh) for Institutional Quot seats for DDV & DMRE

ACPUGMEC

Gandhinagar

All candidates must write USER ID, Name, Mobile Number, and General Merit No. of CPS behind the Demand Drafts.

The candidates must pay Provisional Enrollment Fees) by DEMAND DRAFTS (DD) at the time of enrollment of admission of CPS courses after Completion of the whole admission process to the CPS, Mumbai as per the following details:

Sr. No.

Purpose

Amount (Rs.)

Details for Demand Draft (DD)

In favor of

Payable at

1

Provisional Enrollment Fee

85,000/- (Non-Refundable)

College of Physicians & Surgeons of Mumbai

Mumbai

At present, this DD is not required to be submitted at the help center of the Admission committee. After completion of the admission process, whenever CPS, Mumbai informs you of the enrollment process of CPS, Admission, at that time only you have to submit this DD to an authorized person of CPS Mumbai directly.

The candidate has to take an appointment at the nearest help center. After taking the appointment, the candidate can download his allotment letter and fees challan from his account after login with the help of User ID & Password.

The tuition fees of CPS Diploma Courses - 6 Lakh/Year for Merit Quota Seats and 12 to 18 Lakh/Year for Institutional Quota Seats in private institutions.

The candidates have to submit their original documents as follows -

1. Allotment Letter of ACPPGME

2. Tuition Fees Receipt

3. All-year MBBS mark sheets

4. 12 months internship completion certificate (Must be completed on or before Dt.11/08/2023)

5. Copy of NEET-PG-2023 Marksheet

6. Document showing Place of birth and date of Birth & Indian Citizenship (School leaving Certificate Transfer Certificate/ Passport/ Birth Certificate

7. Provisional Registration of State Medical Council OR Medical Council of India (In case of fresh candidates only who have just completed their internship)/Permanent Registration of S Medical Council OR Medical Council of India (In case of old pass-out candidates

8. For SEBC, ST, and SC Category: Caste certificate issued by Competent Authorities of Gujarat State only

9. For SEBC Category: Non-creamy layer certificate (Parishistha ‘4’ in Gujarati/English) issued by Competent Authorities of Gujarat State only as per Govt. norms issued after Dt: 01/04/2021

10. For EWS (Economically Weaker Sections) Category: EWS certificate issued by Competent Authorities Gujarat State only issued after Dt: 01/04/2021

11. Copy of Passport- If Citizenship is Dual/ Foreign

12. 12th Marksheet (For candidates who have done MBBS outside Gujarat

13. Domicile certificate of Gujarat state: For candidates who have done MBBS outside Gujarat& only if birthplace is outside Gujarat

14. Photo Copy of Disability Certificate issued by a Competent Authority (For PwD Candidates)

Failing to bring any original documents, the candidate will have no right of admission.

Vacant seat after round 3 –

A total of 29 seats are vacant after round 3.

Detailed seat matrix –

Diploma in Child Health (DCH)

2

Diploma in Gynecology and Obstetrics (DGO)

7

Diploma in Pathology and Bacteriology (DPB)

10

Diploma in Anesthesiology (DA)

5

Diploma in Ophthalmic Medicine and Surgery (DOMS)

3

Diploma in Tuberculosis Diseases

2

The rank-wise result and list of candidates required to report to the help center have also been released. The detailed list and results are enclosed in the notice below.

To view the notices, click on the link below –

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/vacfull-229378.pdf