Created: 3/5/2009 5:23:32 PM 
JACKSONVILLE, FL -- Jacksonville Sheriff John Rutherford has asked the public for patience, as the Florida Highway Patrol investigates two recent wrecks involving the JSO. The first happened back in January. An elderly man was killed when he turned into the path of officer Marcus Kilpatrick's car on Merrill Road in Arlington. The other wreck happened Monday on the Northside. An officer was reportedly glancing at her laptop and crashed into the back of a semi. JSO can't talk about either case right now because it is against the law. In fact, Sheriff John Rutherford says in both police officer involved crashes, FHP has to finish its investigation before the JSO can take a look at it. JSO will then decide whether policies were violated. Rutherford handed out a copy of those policies today to the media. He says there is no direct mention of whether an officer can use a laptop while driving. "O
As for the accident involving Officer Kilpatrick, crash reports recently released show he was traveling at 98 mph. He was reportedly going after a potential traffic violator, someone driving with windows too darkly tinted.
In his accident, 86-year-old Matthew Ogden was killed. Witnesses report the officer did not have his lights and sirens on before the crash.
Rutherford says an officer doesn't always have to have emergency equipment running. "Sometimes catching up with a traffic violator ,you don't want to turn on your blue lights and sirens until you get close to them and pull them over. Otherwise if they see you way back, they may flee and elude. So, you wait until you are right on top of them, that's a good tactical response," says Rutherford.
The Sheriff also pointed out how state law allows officers to violate traffic laws such as running through red lights, stop signs and exceeding speed limits. Rutherford says those actions have to be taken while considering the public's safety.
Since the report of how fast Kilpatrick was going before the crash, the Sheriff has pulled him from his full duty status. He also says the investigation is going to internal affairs.
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