NEWS: Speeding car thief causes fatal crash that kills officer

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER, November 14, 2006

A repeat car thief -- who had tried to run down police officers several times and once was shot during a pursuit -- crashed into an off-duty Seattle police officer's car early Monday, killing her and himself.

Seattle police officers at the scene where a fellow officer was killed in a double fatality accident on Elliott Avenue West early Monday.

Elizabeth Mary Nowak, a five-year officer who had just moved to Seattle from Wisconsin, was driving to work about 2:30 a.m. when the thief -- in a Honda Accord stolen hours earlier -- broadsided her BMW sedan in a rain-slicked intersection south of the Magnolia Bridge.

At the time, Neal R. Kelley had a warrant out for his arrest for violating the terms of his probation. Law enforcement officials Monday were outraged that Kelley, 35, who had a criminal record bristling with auto thefts and assaults, wasn't still behind bars.

"There's no way that this individual should've been on the streets of Seattle. No way he should've been in a stolen car, and no way he should've caused this accident," Seattle police spokeswoman Sgt. Deanna Nollette said.

Nowak, 30, was the second Seattle officer to die this year in traffic wrecks caused by convicted felons. On Aug. 13, Seattle police Officer Joselito Barber died when his patrol car was rammed in the Central District by a woman -- a drug offender allegedly high on cocaine -- who had run a red light.

"It's a shock," said Sgt. Rich O'Neill, president of the Seattle Police Officers' Guild. "Three months to the day from Joselito -- and the similarities are just eerie."

Both Barber and Nowak were new to the force, both worked at the East Precinct, and both were assigned to "first watch," a shift that begins at 3 a.m.

"That unit has just been hit," O'Neill said.

"What are the odds?" asked the East Precinct captain, Landy Black.

The precinct officers had just started to get to know Nowak, who went by Beth and had started her assignment within the past two weeks. She was supposed to have coffee with a colleague later Monday morning, Black said.

The crash happened at Elliott Avenue West and West Prospect Street. Responding officers didn't initially know who the victim in the BMW was until they saw her uniform in the car, Nollette said.

Kelley was headed north on Elliott Avenue West. Witnesses told police that Kelley was speeding with his headlights off despite darkness and rain. Police were not pursuing him when the collision happened.

As Nowak was turning onto Elliott, her car was broadsided by the Honda. The impact killed both drivers immediately. A female passenger in the Honda was taken to Harborview Medical Center, but her condition was unknown.

Police closed Elliott Avenue to traffic for several hours following the wreck as investigators gathered evidence. The vehicles were so badly mangled that firefighters had to cut into the Honda to retrieve Kelley's body.

Investigators don't know whether Kelley was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. The Honda was stolen outside a Starbucks on South Holgate Street about 6 p.m. Sunday.

Kelley, who had a record of car thefts dating back to at least 1993, was in and out of prison in Washington over the past few years.

In late 2004, he was sentenced to five years in a Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative program that allows offenders to split time between prison and drug treatment in the community. He was given credit for 572 days spent in King County Jail, court documents say.

He was last released from state custody in January and placed under community supervision, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Mary Christensen said.

That prison term stemmed from a spree of car thefts and police pursuits, including a case from Jan. 10, 2003, when sheriff's deputies shot Kelley in the hand and shoulder after he tried to run them over in a stolen Dodge Durango south of Seattle.

Kelley crashed into a tree and deputies had boxed him in. One deputy drew his gun after jumping onto the Durango's hood to avoid being hit, court documents say.

Two months earlier, Kelley had dragged a Seattle police officer dangling from his passenger door on Interstate 5. The officer had pursued Kelley after seeing him bump several cars and cause one collision while in a stolen Honda Civic on the freeway, court documents say.

The Civic eventually spun out after a collision. The officer rushed to the car and reached in over a pregnant passenger inside to push the vehicle out of gear. A struggle ensued, and while the vehicle continued rolling, Kelley jumped out his door and tried to run, according to court records.

On Jan. 30, 1999, he tried to outrun Seattle police by flicking off his headlights and turning against one-way traffic on Fourth Avenue. He hit a car and crashed into a fire station at Fourth Avenue and Battery Street, records say.

When Kelley was arrested July 26 for allegedly breaking into vehicles near Safeco Field and trying to ram officers' patrol cars, Nollette said he reportedly joked to the arresting officers: "I guess I should have learned my lesson when County shot me."

According to a police report, an officer was dispatched to a parking lot on South Atlantic Street around 8:30 p.m. to check on some auto break-ins when he spotted Kelley, who matched the suspect's description. Kelley immediately jumped into a Honda and barreled at the patrol car at an estimated 45 mph.

After a chase involving other patrol cars, a foot pursuit and a struggle, Kelley finally was arrested. Despite his lengthy criminal record and the fact that he had violated conditions of his release, Kelley was released from King County Jail on Aug. 7.

Afterward, he failed to report to his community corrections officer, which prompted a warrant to be issued, said Christensen, the corrections spokeswoman.

Several law enforcement officials wondered Monday why Kelley hadn't been locked up longer, given his history of aggression toward police officers.

"Our question is, what's he doing out of jail?" asked King County sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart.

Originally from Milwaukee, Nowak served on the police force in nearby Racine, Wis., from July 2001 to May 2006, Racine police Sgt. Steve Madsen said.

Nowak was also in the Air Force and had spent 2003 deployed in Iraq.

Officers in Racine were taking news of the tragedy hard, Madsen said Monday.

"She was just a very well-liked officer," he said. "We're a small department, so we're very close-knit."

Nowak was eager to join a larger department in a big city, which is why she took the job with Seattle.

East Precinct officers were planning to hold a private ceremony for their colleague, police Chief Gil Kerlikowske said. A public memorial with police procession was not expected for Nowak, who did not die in the line of duty.

"The family is eager to get her home," Assistant Chief Nick Metz said. "We're working to make that happen for them."

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/292260_copfatal14.html

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