For five miles, McCausland chased Gamble, reaching speeds up to 90 miles per hour, through neighborhoods of Parkside and Chester City.
Gamble's car struck another at 22d Street and Edgmont, but he continued to flee. No one was injured in that crash, and McCausland continued to chase Gamble.
Just seconds after the first crash, Gamble's car hit Marth's broadside at 14th Street and Edgmont. Marth's car burst into flames.
Gamble got out of the car he was driving and ran, Marsini said. He was taken into custody a few days later.
Gamble has an extensive record, including 30 arrests as an adult and seven juvenile arrests for offenses including forgery, receiving stolen property and
drug possession, Marsini said.
Gamble is now in prison for a parole violation and will not begin to serve his jail time for the crash for eight months, Marsini said. He is wanted in Delaware and in Montgomery County.
"This is a man who has not learned his lesson with the law," Marsini said. "Every time he gets out of prison, he commits another crime."
Judge Edward S. Lawhorne said it was a shame that the Parkside officer took it upon himself to chase Gamble at 90 m.p.h.
A bill was introduced in the state Senate in November by Sens. J. Doyle Corman (R., Centre) and John Hopper (R., Cumberland) to help curb high-speed police chases.
Among the provisions of the legislation is that municipal police departments would have to follow specific guidelines on pursuits. Penalties for those who flee from police would be increased.
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A 19-year-old New Jersey man was sentenced in Delaware County Court Monday to 14 to 30 months in prison for killing two local teenagers in a one-car accident in Upper Darby.
Howard Utley of Pleasantville was found guilty Oct. 16 before Judge Edward S. Lawhorne of vehicular homicide.
"This was such a tragic accident," said Assistant District Attorney John B. Lynch. "It never should have happened. No sentence in the world will ever bring the two students back."
Utley was driving with four other teenagers on June 15, 1990, when his car spun out of control, crashed into a telephone pole and burst into flames as it careened off Springfield Road in Upper Darby.
William Greenan, 16, and Danielle Carroll, 15, both Upper Darby High School students, were killed when the rear of the car exploded.
Earlier that day, Utley and Christopher Young, 18, of Vineland, N.J., had installed stereo speakers in the car, removing part of the back seat and the fire wall, which could have protected the students, Lynch said.
Utley and two other front-seat passengers, Michele Jones, 16, of Upper Darby, and Young, suffered only minor injuries in the crash.
Utley was also found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol, driving at unsafe speeds and reckless driving. He was sentenced to serve an additional 48 hours to 12 months for the DUI offense, Lynch said.
"This was a terrible accident, and I hope it can serve as an example to other kids to be more careful when they work on their own cars," Lynch said.
A Chester City man who was convicted of drunken driving and the vehicular homicide of a local assistant pastor was sentenced in County Court on Monday to five to 12 months in jail.
Earl S. Hudson, 39, was convicted last month of vehicular homicide in the death of the Rev. James Stewart 3d, 41, of the 300 block of Engle Street.
Hudson was driving in the early-morning hours of May 2 when his car struck Mr. Stewart's on Second Street in Chester.
Although Hudson was convicted of drunken driving and vehicular homicide, he was acquitted of the more serious charge of DUI-related vehicular homicide, which carries a three-year mandatory prison term, said Assistant District Attorney Michael Galantino.
Throughout the trial, defense attorney Vicki E. Herr argued that faulty brakes were the cause of the accident, not Hudson's 0.20 percent blood-alcohol level.
