Dad looks for answers (7/25/03)

I am Larry Scott Hilbert, the father of Brandon Scott Hilbert, the young man that died Friday morning after the so-called “procedural pursuit.” My God, how could this happen?

I read the article in Monday’s paper where the Chief said he thinks officer Myers followed department procedure and did nothing wrong, then read on down the page where it stated what the policies and procedures for pursuit are. I think it CLEARLY states what the policies are. I feel that no one at city hall wants to admit that officer Myers made a mistake because they don't want to be held accountable. Well, let me say that this was no small error. My 20-year-old son is buried six feet under and Robyn Philebaum, a precious 19-year-old girl, is fighting for her life.

I know Matthew Miller should not have let Brandon ride his motorcycle, especially with a passenger on the back.

I know that Brandon should have pulled over when officer Myers turned on his red lights. I think Brandon was scared to pull over. But young people make bad decisions sometimes and sometimes panic in some situations. A trained officer would know this.

I would like to ask officer Myers if it was his son on the motorcycle or better yet, if it was his innocent daughter trapped on the back of the motorcycle, would he have chased them over 130 miles per hour to their death? I think we all know the answer to that. But, I have not even heard a word from Officer Myers, let alone an explanation of why he did not follow his own department’s policies.

I also was told that neither of the patrol cars involved had their videotapes on. This is very suspicious to me. I mean I have been told they weren’t working, or they forgot to turn them on, whatever!

Has anyone noticed the local paper when the city court information comes out? I would say with all the hundreds of tickets being written in this city of ours, surely, we could afford some video cameras that work. I mean we sure have plenty of fancy new patrol cars in this small town of ours.

Then I read from the front page of Tuesday’s paper, about how the mayor, chief, and assistant chief had met with the "Hilbert Family.” I had no idea. And would just like to say that I have not met with the mayor, chief or assistant chief. And I know Chris Hilbert, Brandon's brother, or Leana Hilbert, Brandon's sister have not met with them either. So I do not know whom they are talking about. I had a 2 minute conversation with Chief Darby the morning Brandon died, but that was it.

I realize there were a lot of bad choices that Friday morning that led up to the tragic ending. But, I thought our police officers were “peace officers,” trained to serve and protect.

I am deeply saddened by my son's death and my heart goes out to the innocent girl who was trapped on the back of the motorcycle, and her family. I pray that Robyn will make a full recovery.

Something seriously needs to be done to prevent this horrible event from happening again. I would also like to clarify what was in an article in the Muncie paper. I never said what happened to Brandon about the mistaken identity was two years ago. I said it was a few months ago.

Sincerely,

Larry Scott Hilbert

Portland

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