shooterx10
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Posted on Fri, Aug. 08, 2003 story
UB_DESC
Mystery V.I.P. rips over Hwy. 46 at 90
CHP sergeant reprimanded but motorcade's dignitary not identified
Michaela Baltasar
The Tribune
Who rode in the two-car motorcade that hurtled along at 90 mph Saturday night on Highway 46 East?
Could it have been Gov. Gray Davis?
A Templeton-based CHP officer followed the speeding motorcade east on the narrow, two-lane highway in northeast San Luis Obispo County, which has been the site of dozens of fiery fatal car wrecks over the years. The speed limit on the undivided road is 55 mph.
According to the CHP, the officer flashed his lights and tried to pull the two cars over. But after using a radio to contact the drivers -- who were also CHP officers -- the patrolman backed off, and the motorcade continued.
CHP officials won't name the dignitary in one of the two speeding Crown Victorias, which they said came from Monterey and were going to Los Angeles. Problems with a plane at the Monterey Peninsula Airport forced the dignitary to travel by car.
But CHP Commissioner D. "Spike" Helmick said Thursday that only seven state officials use unmarked government vehicles for transportation: the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state controller, state superintendent of public instruction and state insurance commissioner.
The Tribune called representatives of each of these officials Thursday. All but the governor's spokesman said their respective officials were elsewhere Saturday night.
The representative for Davis, however, refused to say where the governor was that evening.
"Talk to the California Highway Patrol. They handle transportation and security," spokesman Steve Maviglio said.
"There were no public events on Saturday," he said. "The governor flew to Chicago on Sunday."
When asked if Davis flew from Los Angeles International Airport, Maviglio said: "That's a transportation question."
Investigation now closed
CHP officers drive the vehicles used in government motorcades and are responsible for the safety of the elected official riding inside, Helmick said. Officers are trained in general to drive at high speeds if they need to, he added, but there was no indication as to why the motorcade barreled through the North County at high speed.
"To my understanding, they weren't late for anything," Helmick said. "These people know what they're doing, so I doubt they were unsafe. But that doesn't mean what they were doing was legal and right."
On Wednesday, Helmick verbally reprimanded and filed a personnel report on the Sacramento-based sergeant in charge of the motorcade. The investigation into the incident is now closed, he said.
According to Helmick, the officer who pursued the motorcade communicated with the drivers via radio and asked them to flash their amber emergency lights and slow down, then left the scene.
It's unclear whether the emergency lights remained on, and Helmick said they aren't a requirement, even when a motorcade is traveling fast.
The narrow, sometimes winding Highway 46 has been nicknamed "Blood Alley." Twenty-nine people have died on the stretch in the past five years.
Helmick, who was chief of San Luis Obispo County CHP in the 1980s and 1990s, said he's well aware of how dangerous the road is.
"They should not have been driving that fast," Helmick said.
Here is the link.
UB_DESCMystery V.I.P. rips over Hwy. 46 at 90
CHP sergeant reprimanded but motorcade's dignitary not identified
Michaela Baltasar
The Tribune
Who rode in the two-car motorcade that hurtled along at 90 mph Saturday night on Highway 46 East?
Could it have been Gov. Gray Davis?
A Templeton-based CHP officer followed the speeding motorcade east on the narrow, two-lane highway in northeast San Luis Obispo County, which has been the site of dozens of fiery fatal car wrecks over the years. The speed limit on the undivided road is 55 mph.
According to the CHP, the officer flashed his lights and tried to pull the two cars over. But after using a radio to contact the drivers -- who were also CHP officers -- the patrolman backed off, and the motorcade continued.
CHP officials won't name the dignitary in one of the two speeding Crown Victorias, which they said came from Monterey and were going to Los Angeles. Problems with a plane at the Monterey Peninsula Airport forced the dignitary to travel by car.
But CHP Commissioner D. "Spike" Helmick said Thursday that only seven state officials use unmarked government vehicles for transportation: the governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state treasurer, state controller, state superintendent of public instruction and state insurance commissioner.
The Tribune called representatives of each of these officials Thursday. All but the governor's spokesman said their respective officials were elsewhere Saturday night.
The representative for Davis, however, refused to say where the governor was that evening.
"Talk to the California Highway Patrol. They handle transportation and security," spokesman Steve Maviglio said.
"There were no public events on Saturday," he said. "The governor flew to Chicago on Sunday."
When asked if Davis flew from Los Angeles International Airport, Maviglio said: "That's a transportation question."
Investigation now closed
CHP officers drive the vehicles used in government motorcades and are responsible for the safety of the elected official riding inside, Helmick said. Officers are trained in general to drive at high speeds if they need to, he added, but there was no indication as to why the motorcade barreled through the North County at high speed.
"To my understanding, they weren't late for anything," Helmick said. "These people know what they're doing, so I doubt they were unsafe. But that doesn't mean what they were doing was legal and right."
On Wednesday, Helmick verbally reprimanded and filed a personnel report on the Sacramento-based sergeant in charge of the motorcade. The investigation into the incident is now closed, he said.
According to Helmick, the officer who pursued the motorcade communicated with the drivers via radio and asked them to flash their amber emergency lights and slow down, then left the scene.
It's unclear whether the emergency lights remained on, and Helmick said they aren't a requirement, even when a motorcade is traveling fast.
The narrow, sometimes winding Highway 46 has been nicknamed "Blood Alley." Twenty-nine people have died on the stretch in the past five years.
Helmick, who was chief of San Luis Obispo County CHP in the 1980s and 1990s, said he's well aware of how dangerous the road is.
"They should not have been driving that fast," Helmick said.
Here is the link.
Why would he need an unmarked high-speed govt car? Guilty conscience?
