Smiling jail selfie sparks outrage after deadly police chase arrests
Officers are accused of driving away from the scene where Marcia Pochette and her pregnant daughter
By Terri Parker
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WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (WPBF) — Three West Palm Beach police officers — Christopher Rekhdahl, Austin Danielovich, and Pierre Etienne — are charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving death, as well as obstruction of justice.
Four additional officers, who were passengers in the police vehicles during an unauthorized high-speed chase, are also charged with obstruction of justice.
They’re accused of driving away from the scene where Marcia Pochette and her pregnant daughter, Jenice Woods, were killed by a fleeing suspect. The deadly crash followed a more than 12-mile pursuit that investigators say was never authorized by the department.
“Why did the involved officers choose to leave the scene of this massive crash?” family lawyer Scott Smith asked at a news conference. “Instead of stopping to assist and render aid to Marcia and Jenice?”
Now, a photo taken outside the jail is adding fuel to the fire.
Multiple sources confirm a selfie was taken the night the seven officers turned themselves in. The image appears to show at least three of them smiling, flashing a “hang 10” hand sign, with one sticking out his tongue.
Investigative reporter Terri Parker obtained the photo, which sources say was briefly posted on Facebook before it was deleted.
Lawyers for two of the officers confirmed they’ve seen the photo but declined to comment.
Two high-ranking law enforcement officials, speaking on background, described the image in one word: “Disgusting.”
According to arrest reports, the three West Palm Beach police vehicles drove all the way up to the crash site in Boynton Beach, where suspect Neoni Copeland had slammed into the victims’ car at over 85 mph while being chased.
The officers then turned around — without rendering aid or notifying dispatch — and returned to work, two writing tickets for another driver; one chasing the suspect who fled his crashed car.
None notified supervisors or radioed in the crash, according to investigators.
Instead, Boynton Beach Police notified a West Palm Beach Sergeant they’d seen the West Palm Beach vehicles — one marked, two unmarked — on surveillance video at the scene of the crash.
All seven officers have bonded out.
The Woods and Pochette family lawyer says they are planning a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.
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