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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Guide Weather Subscribe Contact Us February 16, 2005 Goading police a 'game' for teenager By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Friends of Kevan Thatcher-Stephens said he liked to drive fast and play a "game" with law enforcement officers, though they insist the 17-year-old didn't make a habit of it and his parents tried to keep him from driving. Thatcher-Stephens, an Ashland High junior who did not have a valid driver's license, led police on a high-speed chase through downtown Medford on Friday night that ended in a two-fatality wreck just after 9:30 at Riverside and Jackson streets. Thatcher-Stephens and 26-year-old Charles Ashley Bench of Shady Cove died in the accident. "They'd drive by a cop who'd pulled someone over and they'd yell at the cops with their lights off so the cops wouldn't see their license plate," said a 17-year-old Ashland High junior girl who considered herself a part of Thatcher-Stephens' group of friends. Speaking on the condition of anonymity, she said Thatcher-Stephens would sometimes top out his white Jeep Cherokee around 80 mph. Friends said that they didn't know of any other kids who played this "game" with law enforcement officers. "The running through red lights was not part of the game," Thatcher-Stevens' friend said. "It wasn't an everyday event or to this extreme and it was never this fast." High-ranking law enforcement officials from two local agencies agreed this behavior is not prevalent in Southern Oregon. "I don't see it as a trend with kids out there," said Rich Walsh, the deputy chief of the Ashland Police Department. "I think the biggest thing is people need to slow down. It's pretty much a general consensus that it's not a specific age group, it's people in general." Initial police reports estimated Thatcher-Stephens' speed between 95 and 100 mph as a Talent police officer and Jackson County sheriff trailed him through Medford before he broadsided the Chevy Blazer driven by Bench. Bench died at the scene. His friends claim that this event exceeded the more typical routine of Thatcher-Stevens "game." "They would never jump it over 100," the girl said. "His car couldn't handle it." Thatcher-Stephens and the one passenger in each vehicle were transported to Providence Medford Medical Center, where Thatcher-Stephens died later Friday evening. The passengers - 16-year-old Ian Graham-Collier and 27-year-old Mark Robustelli - are expected to recover from their injuries. Banned from the wheel Thatcher-Stephens' license had been suspended at the time of the accident. He had not received a hardship permit at the time of the accident, an official with the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles said Tuesday. Thatcher-Stephens had five driving violations on his record at the time of the fatal wreck. His license had been suspended on Jan. 22 following a four-citation conviction by the Talent Municipal Court. Although he had applied on Feb. 3 for a hardship permit to drive to and from work, the application had not been processed. The Tidings previously reported Thatcher-Stephens had a hardship permit, although that classification would still not have allowed him to drive with a passenger or off a prescribed route to and from work. "He should not have been driving at all," said David House, the DMV public information coordinator. But stopping him was harder than just taking his license away, say his friends. "His parents did try really, really hard to keep the car out of his possession," the girl said, explaining Thatcher-Stephens' parents would hide the keys from him. Their son would find the keys and drive anyway, she said. Of the five violations Thatcher-Stephens had been charged with, four resulted from a Sept. 6 incident in Talent. He was cited for speeding - 74 mph in a 45 mph zone - careless driving, driving without a license and driving without insurance by a TPD officer. At the time, Thatcher-Stephens had never been issued a driver's license by the state of Oregon. "People commit violations all the time," Walsh said. "They don't necessarily get caught for them. When they do get caught, [that's] usually just the tip of the iceberg." Less than three weeks later, on Sept. 24, Thatcher-Stephens obtained an Oregon Driver's License and was involved in a reportable accident - one that caused at least $1,500 damage or an injury - later that day. "We didn't know about those tickets," House said, explaining the Sept. 4 incident would have been enough to deny a driver's license to a minor under Oregon's Teen Driver Improvement Program. Eventually, those convictions caused the suspension of Thatcher-Stephens' license. "The suspension doesn't happen unless we get a conviction from the court," he said. Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. Driver had twice legal alcohol limit By Jennifer Squires Ashland Daily Tidings Kevan Thatcher-Stephens, 17, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.16 at the of his death, the KTVL News 10 morning newscast reported today. If confirmed, his BAC would have been twice the legal limit for a motorist above the age of 21 at the time of the fatal crash. Officials from the Jackson County District Attorney's Office and the Medford Police Department did not return calls this morning. A multiagency task force investigating the fatal accident has not released details about the night, though law enforcement officials have been looking into the actions and whereabouts of Thatcher-Stephens and his passenger, 16-year-old Ian Graham-Collier. The investigation has been referred the Josephine County District Attorney's Office, a statement release today said. Jackson County Mark Huddleston said he was making the referral due to the fact that the second patrol car involved in the situation was being operated by Capt. Joe Puckett of the Jackson County Sheriff's Department. "Since Capt. Puckett is a senior supervisor ... it was better for another district attorney to review the investigation in order to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest," Huddleston said in the statement. A night in question According to a close friend of the deceased, Thatcher-Stephens and Graham-Collier were heading to Medford to watch a drag race and told buddies they were hanging out with they would come back to the house. "They just said they were going to Medford and they'd be right back," said a 17-year-old Ashland High junior boy who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The boy was supposed to be with Thatcher-Stephens and friends on Friday night, but never made it over. He found out about the accident on Saturday morning, when five teary-eyed friends came to his house to break the news to him. "I don't remember much of that day," the boy said. "It was only three days ago." The boy said he and his friends sometimes drink or smoke marijuana, but said they always collect car keys when people arrive at the party and have at least one sober person on-hand to ensure people don't leave the party "messed up." "We all do dumb stuff but Kevan knows when it's over the edge," the boy said. "We all keep each other in check." Because of that and a simple lack of money, the boy believes Thatcher-Stephens had not been under the influence of intoxicants on Friday night. "We're kind of notorious for smoking and drinking," the boy said. "This night, I don't think it was going on because we're all broke. We're high school kids." Staff writer Jennifer Squires can be reached at 482-3456 x 3019 or [email protected]. 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