FATAL PURSUITS: DEATH PROMPTS CALLS FOR RESTRICTING POLICE CHASES.

Byline: Rick Orlov, Lisa Van Proyen and Yvette Cabrera Daily News Staff Writers

Family members mourned Linda Wageman's death as top LAPD officials on Wednesday defended the police pursuit that led to her death the night before.

Police asserted that the two suspects chased by officers were responsible for the Granada Hills woman's death - not the department's pursuit policy.

But family and police critics said the collision that killed Wageman, 44, and critically injured her daughter, Rebecca Wageman, 25, is another example of why the decision to give chase should not be left to officers' discretion.

``We keep hearing how police are supposed to back off in car chases, especially in residential areas, if they think that other people may get hurt,'' said Susan Wageman, who had been married to a member of the family.

``I've been hearing that for months on the news and then somebody you know dies and you think, `Whoa. I just don't understand.' ''

The American Civil Liberties Union last year called on the Los Angeles Police Department to change its rules and order officers to stand down from pursuits that begin when drivers violate traffic laws.

On Wednesday, the ACLU argued that more officer training and clear guidelines need to be set to avoid innocent bystanders from becoming victims of pursuits.

Elizabeth Schroeder, ACLU associate director in Los Angeles, said officers should have broken off the pursuit Tuesday night before reaching high speeds on residential streets and instead taken down the suspects' license plate and radioed ahead for other ground and air officers.

Though they acknowledged that more investigation is needed, police officials were supportive of Officers Doug Gerst's and Ron Stringer's decision to pursue the two men wanted on suspicion of auto theft.

``When you stop them, they may be the Oklahoma bombing suspect or . . . you may be stopping some faction going off to plant a bomb,'' said Rod Grahek, assistant watch commander for the LAPD's Valley Traffic Division.

Police said the pursuit began shortly before 10 p.m. Tuesday when two motorcycle officers spotted the van driven by Christopher Dechuff, 19, of Hollywood, running a red light and nearly colliding with a car at Van Nuys Boulevard and Arleta Avenue. The passenger in the van was Daniel John Nardine, 19, of Pasadena.

Dechuff was in critical condition after the crash; Nardine suffered less serious injuries.

The officers were part of a drunk driving task force in the area and learned the vehicle has been reported stolen from the Hollenbeck area.

When they turned on their lights and sirens, the driver sped up to 70 mph and began weaving through traffic, police said.

Slightly more than a minute later, the collision occurred with the Wageman vehicle at Sepulveda Boulevard and Lassen Street.

After seeing the two vans collide, the two officers jumped off their motorcycles and ran to rescue the victims, said Michael Bostic, deputy chief of the Valley Bureau.

They first ran up to the more accessible passenger side of the Wagemans' van, kicked in the windshield and dragged Rebecca Wageman away from the vehicle engulfed in flames. They then ran over to the driver's side and tried to rescue her mother, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, a backup officer, Daniel Robinson of the Van Nuys Division, got the suspects out of the other vehicle, all the while worrying that that vehicle may also explode, Bostic said.

Officer Gerst suffered minor burns to his left arm and was treated for smoke inhalation at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center, where hospital officials reported he was in stable condition Wednesday.

Officer Stringer was released after treatment for burns and cuts to both of his arms during the rescue. Robinson was also treated, for a finger injury, and released.

Both Gerst and Stringer, each having served at least 20 years on the department, were traumatized by the fiery incident, Bostic said.

``It's just the human emotion of thinking, `There must have been more they could do,' '' Bostic said. ``Our hearts go out to the families who lost one family member and another who is critical.''

``They're pretty upset about it. In their minds, she (Linda Wageman) was still alive when they were trying to rescue her,'' Bostic said.

Interviewed in his hospital bed Wednesday, Gerst told KTTV (Channel 11): ``If I could talk to the father, I'd say I did everything I could to save your wife and I did save your daughter.''

Meanwhile on Wednesday, City Councilwoman Laura Chick, who heads the council's Public Safety Committee, said she will review the LAPD accident report to determine whether all policies were followed.

Since a critical review by the ACLU was released in June 1996, the department has increased training of officers at an Ontario facility and a state-of-the-art driving facility is scheduled to open soon in Sylmar that will add to officer training, said police spokesman Lt. Tony Alba.

But he said that pursuits must continue to be a part of policing.

``Unfortunately, police pursuits are a necessary tool in our line of work,'' Alba said. ``The guilt should be borne by those who cause us to be in pursuits. We can't control what the suspects are doing.''

In its report last year, the ACLU complained about the number of pursuits that end in injuries and deaths after drivers commit only traffic violations.

While such pursuits by LAPD officers dropped to 823 in 1995 from 891 in 1993, they ended in 20 deaths. Five of the dead were people not involved in the chase, from 1993 to 1995, according to an ACLU review of police statistics. Those are the most recent statistics available.

Chick acknowledged that police pursuits have been the subject of a long and ongoing debate among police and government officials across the country.

For instance, the Orange County Sheriff's Department, the Chicago Police Department and the Miami Police Department all have changed their policies so that officers may only pursue drivers suspected of committing felonies.

In each place, officials reported a sharp decline in pursuit-related collisions.

But police and others said that limiting police pursuits will only encourage criminals to flee.

News of Linda Wageman's death spread quickly Wednesday as members of her extended family relayed the news by phone to their relatives, who arrived to console her injured daughter at the Mission Hills hospital.

``She was a wonderful lady,'' Susan Wageman said of Linda Wageman.

Linda Wageman was a homemaker, mother of three children ages 17, 19, and 25, and the one who held the extensive Wageman families in touch with each other, a family member said.

Assemblyman Tony Cardenas, D-Panorama City, who saw the aftermath of the accident on the news and rushed to scene Tuesday night, has instructed his staff on Wednesday to begin studying California Highway Patrol pursuit techniques and Los Angeles County sheriff's helicopter tracking devices that may be used for an LAPD pilot program Cardenas wants to create.

Cardenas wants also to create tougher laws that make it mandatory for suspects in pursuits to get charged with a felony.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, map

PHOTO (1 -- color) An LAPD officer collects evidence around a van, reported stolen, that crashed into another van Tuesday in North Hills, killing one.

Gene Blevins/Special to the Daily News

(2) Brian Hurtado examines a melted tail light in the aftermath of a fiery collision on Sepulveda Boulevard.

Michael Owen Baker/Daily News

Map: The chase

Linda Wageman 44, of Granada Hills, was killed and her daughter, Rebecca Wageman, 25, was critically injured in a collision that came, when a van being pursued by police slammed into their car late Tuesday.