A Lawrence woman was killed Tuesday evening in southwest Lawrence when the car she was driving was hit by a speeding car being chased by police.

Judith Vellucci, 56, was pronounced dead at Lawrence Memorial Hospital, police said.

Nam Ouk Cho, 19, of Lee’s Summit, Mo., the driver of the car being chased, was treated at LMH then booked into the Douglas County Jail on suspicion of reckless second-degree murder, police said. A formal charge is pending, and police were continuing their investigation. Also pending is a review of Lawrence Police pursuit policies.

At 6:10 p.m. Tuesday, police were told about a reckless driver traveling north on Massachusetts Street, according to a police news release. The vehicle, a white car with Missouri license plates and a “sporty fin” on its rear, was seen driving in oncoming lanes of traffic, police said.

Officers spotted the vehicle going west on Ninth Street and attempted to stop it at Ninth and Iowa streets.

The car did not stop and continued west on Ninth, then south on Kasold Drive, police said.

‘What is going on?’

Loren Drummond was driving west on Ninth Street at Rockledge Road when Cho’s car — with police in pursuit — came speeding up behind him.

“It was going fast enough that it made me pull over and say, ‘What is going on?'” said Drummond, of Lawrence. “I don’t know if I was scared, but it sure made me wonder what had happened.”

Police officers study the scene of a fatal car collision at 31st Street and Nieder Road. Tuesday, 19-year-old Nam Ouk Cho, of Lee's Summit, Mo., was fleeing police in a high-speed chase when his car struck the car of Judith Vellucci, of Lawrence. Vellucci was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital after the collision and pronounced dead. Cho was treated and released from LMH, then booked into Douglas County Jail on suspicion of reckless second-degree murder.

Les French and Michelle White were at their home near 27th Street and Kasold Drive when they heard sirens and saw a car being chased by several police cars.

“They really flew right by us. I didn’t think he (Cho) was going to make the curve,” French said, referring to the curve from Kasold Drive onto 31st Street. “That was really stupid. You can outrun a car, but you can’t outrun a radio.”

At 31st Street and Nieder Road, near the entrance to Steak ‘n Shake restaurant, Cho’s car slammed into the driver’s side of Vellucci’s car.

Although police didn’t release details about the accident, a girl who was driving nearby said it appeared Vellucci was pulling out onto 31st Street from Nieder Road when the collision occurred. The witness declined to give her name.

Brandon McKinsey was leaving the Best Buy store on 31st Street east of Iowa Street a short distance from the accident scene when he heard the crash.

“It sounded like an explosion,” the Tonganoxie man said later, sitting in his truck in the parking lot at nearby Douglas County Bank and watching police investigate the accident.

¢ 6News video: Car chase ends in collision

Police Lt. David Cobb, who wrote the news release, declined additional comment except to say the department had a policy concerning car chases.

Pursuit policies

Increasingly, law-enforcement agencies across the nation have adopted policies regarding high-speed chases. In Connecticut, for example, a uniform statewide policy dictates that police supervisors “shall order” a chase to end if the “potential danger to the public outweighs the need for immediate apprehension.”

Police Chief Ron Olin and City Manager Mike Wildgen confirmed Tuesday night from their homes that the Lawrence Police Department had a policy for chases and pursuit. But neither could shed light on details of the policy.

“I don’t have the policy with me,” Olin said. “We are still investigating, and we don’t have all the information.”

Wildgen said the policy contained steps in which police dispatchers and supervisors would be notified of a chase. “I don’t know the details,” he added.

Wildgen asked for patience while the investigation continued.

“I know the policy will be examined to see if it was adhered to,” he said.

Police also would not say how fast the suspect’s car or patrol cars were traveling during the chase. An officer involved in the chase, however, was overheard on a police radio at one point talking about speeds of about 80 mph. It was unclear whether he was talking about his car or the suspect’s car.

Police have scheduled a news conference for 9:30 a.m. today to discuss the incident.