SC troopers used cars to ram suspects

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Videos have surfaced showing two members of the South Carolina Highway Patrol using their cruisers to ram fleeing suspects, just weeks after two leaders of the agency resigned because of a furor over a trooper's use of a racial slur.In one of the two new dash-cam videos, which were first reported Wednesday by The Post and Courier of Charleston, Lance Cpl. Steven C. Garren drives after a man on foot, striking him when he crosses in front of Garren's cruiser. The man flips over the car's hood and into high grass on the roadside."Yeah, I hit him. I was trying to hit him," Garren, who is white, can be heard telling another trooper.In the other, Lance Cpl. Alexander Richardson drives between apartment buildings, on sidewalks and past onlookers in an attempt to run down a suspect. After about a minute, Richardson's car bumps the man, who grabs the vehicle in an attempt to steady himself.

The man doesn't fall and takes off running again.Sid Gaulden, a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety, said neither trooper was available for comment. A message left at a number for an Alexander Richardson was not immediately returned. Garren did not have a listed phone number.The videos depicted isolated events, and the troopers involved had been punished, Gaulden said.Garren received a three-day suspension, which he has appealed. Richardson was reprimanded and completed a stress management course, disciplinary records show.Geoffrey Alpert, a University of South Carolina criminal justice professor who consults with police on pursuit policies, said using cars as battering rams shows poor decision making."They're just lazy," Alpert said. "Rather than get out of their car or get in a foot race, or tackle someone ... they'll just hit them with the car door, with the bumper, and hope they don't run them over."Alpert said he had never seen any training materials that advised authorities to use cruisers to hit suspects on foot.

The suspects in both of the new videos are black. One of the troopers involved is white, and the other is black, Gaulden said.The Post and Courier's report about the videos comes three weeks after Highway Patrol Col. Russell Roark and his boss, Public Safety Director James Schweitzer, submitted their resignations over their handling of an incident in which a white trooper used racial slur during a traffic stop."You better run," then-Lance Cpl. Daniel C. Campbell said, using a derogatory term for blacks, "because I'm fixin' to kill you."Campbell was reprimanded, suspended and ordered to undergo anger and diversity training. After Roark resigned, Campbell was reassigned to administrative duties. Gov. Mark Sanford said he should have been fired.Schweitzer has said he would step down after his replacement is confirmed.

Extended car warranties

Most people don't buy a new car without hearing the dealership finance manager warn about "how foolish it would be" not to protect your investment from unexpected repairs as you put on the miles. What comes next is a persistent sales pitch for a solution to your new fears: an extended warranty. "You could save the amount of the plan cost with just one covered repair!" says a brochure for Ford's Extended Service Plan.

But extended warranties sell costly "peace of mind" for repair nightmares that probably won't occur, according to a survey of more than 8,000 readers in December 2007 by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. We have long advised that extended warranties are a poor deal for almost every product. Now we have the first data showing that this advice applies to most new cars, as well.

To raise public awareness on the issue, Consumer Reports is launching a national advertising campaign this week targeting the car-buying public.

Sixty-five percent of the survey respondents said they spent significantly more for a new-car warranty than they got back in repair cost savings. On average, dealers collected around $800 on each extended warranty they sold.

Respondents cited warranty costs of $1,000 on average that provided benefits of $700; an average $300 loss. Some 42 percent of extended warranties were not used, and only about a third of all respondents used their plan to cover a serious problem. About one in five respondents (22%) said they had a net savings. Seventy-five percent did not buy extended warranties at all.

Extended warranties were, however, a better deal for those who bought more troublesome cars scoring lower in Consumer Reports' reliability Ratings, such as those from Mercedes-Benz. Still, only 38 percent of Mercedes-Benz owners said they saved money. The average loss was $100. Lexus and Toyota owners lost the most money: $600 on average for Lexus and $550 for Toyota. Owners of Pontiacs and Jeeps broke even because on average they had covered repairs that equaled the warranty cost.