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Theodice Parks charged in car crash that killed Thomas Chase in Brighton, NY

By Hudson Brooklyn
Theodice Parks charged in car crash that killed Thomas Chase in Brighton, NY

The driver of the stolen car that crashed into another vehicle in Brighton, killing a 92-year-old man, has been charged with first-degree murder.

Police and prosecutors allege that 17-year-old Theodice Parks, who has a history of criminal convictions, drove wildly during a police chase on August 22, showing a “depraved indifference” to human life and putting others in danger.

The collision killed 92-year-old Thomas Chase, a retired college professor who graduated from the Eastman School of Music 70 years ago.

Teenager had received a number of criminal charges before accident in Brighton, NY

Parks has been charged with a number of criminal offenses in recent years, including car thefts and burglaries. He was arraigned Wednesday at Strong Memorial Hospital, where he is a patient.

The criminal allegations against Parks were so numerous that last year he was quoted in a weekly newsletter from Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley.

In that newsletter, Doorley said Parks, then 16, was arrested and charged with eight different burglaries, a term for a crime that typically involves breaking a window and stealing merchandise. The newsletter said Parks was charged with burglaries at “Comedy at the Carlson, Record Archive, Liberty Family Restaurant, East Avenue Liquor Store, Rookie's Sports Bar and Russell's Ice Cream.”

Rochester Police Chief David Smith said the day after the fatal crash that the driver, whose identity was not yet publicly known at the time, “had been arrested for at least 12 burglaries over the past year throughout the city of Rochester in which he drove a stolen vehicle into store windows and robbed items inside.”

According to police, two other people were in the car with Parks last week and charges have also been brought against them. They are:

  • Theophilus Parks, 19, was released from Strong Hospital on August 23 and charged with illegal possession of stolen property for the stolen car. He is currently in custody at the Monroe County Jail. He is the brother of Theodice Parks.
  • Trevan Simmons, 19, was arraigned at Strong Hospital on August 25 and charged with illegal possession of a firearm. He is accused of possessing a loaded “ghost gun,” a term for a homemade firearm.

Police say shots were fired during the chase, which ended at the corner of East and Elmwood Avenue in Brighton when the stolen Kia crashed into the car driven by Chase. The chase began in the city.

Theodice Parks is also charged with reckless endangerment for allegedly driving her Kia toward a uniformed Rochester police officer in Friederich Park.

What is the connection between a fatal car accident involving a stolen car and the justice system?

The murder of a teenager with multiple prior convictions is potentially becoming a flashpoint in the ongoing debate over recent New York criminal justice actions and their impact on crime. Previous cases involving Theodice Parks were heard in juvenile court, which was created under “Raise the Age” legislation designed to keep more young people out of adult criminal courts and prisons.

With “Raise the Age,” New York raised the age at which young people could be charged as adults to 18. Previously, New York was one of the few states where 16- and 17-year-olds were treated as adults.

Parks' case will first be heard in juvenile court, where a judge will decide how the criminal proceedings will proceed. For the defendant, depending on the sentence imposed, the outcome could be the difference between resources and support ordered by the family court or a sentence in an adult prison.

More serious crimes may be tried in the juvenile division rather than being referred to the family court.

— Gary Craig is a veteran reporter at the Democrat and Chronicle who covers court cases, crime and more. Reach Craig at [email protected]. He is the author of two books, including “Seven Million: A Cop, a Priest, a Soldier for the IRA, and the Still-Unsolved Rochester Brink's Heist.”“

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