Marcus Loring: Family Files Claims Against Rialto After a Fatal Police Pursuit

Who Marcus Loring was

Marcus Benjamin Loring was a proud member of the San Bernardino community and a graduate of Cajon High School. He earned a master's degree from National University. He worked as a program assistant at the GPS Center at Chaffey College, and the San Bernardino City Unified School District had recently rehired him. After his death, the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools recognized him for his impact on education and student success.

What the claims allege happened

According to the claims, at about 8:53 p.m. Redlands police were investigating a 2018 Dodge Journey stolen from a hotel in Redlands. A cellphone left inside the car let police track it electronically. Redlands police gave its location to the Rialto Police Department: near Riverside Avenue and Baseline Road.

The claims allege that Rialto officers found the car and tried to stop it. The driver did not stop. At least three Rialto police officers then chased him north on Riverside Avenue, east on Easton Street and onto Highland Avenue, at speeds of about 70 to 100 miles per hour on city streets.

At about 9:22 p.m., the claims allege, the driver ran a red light at East Highland Avenue and North Pepper Avenue and hit Marcus's 2018 Honda Civic as he was turning onto Pepper. Both cars were forced onto the curb, and Marcus's car rolled over several times. He was wearing his seat belt. Paramedics took him to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, where he died. The coroner found the cause of death to be blunt head trauma.

Marcus was on the phone with his sister, Jessica, when the car hit him. The claims allege that she heard the crash, heard her brother stop responding, and heard first responders try to revive him.

What the family says the city did wrong

The claims allege that the City of Rialto and its officers were negligent and reckless, including by:

• starting and continuing a high-speed chase over a stolen car, a property crime, when the car was being tracked electronically and its location was known;
• not ending the chase when its speed and conditions put the public in danger;
• not having a supervisor monitor the chase and call it off;
• not adopting and enforcing pursuit policies that limit high-speed chases for property crimes when tracking is available, and not training officers on them; and
• not coordinating with Redlands police on using the tracking instead of a chase.

The claims cite earlier pursuit-related crashes in Rialto, including a double fatality in April 2022 and a fatal pursuit in December 2024, as notice to the city that its pursuit practices put the public at risk.

The claims also allege that after the crash a Rialto police representative told Jessica that her brother was "in custody." The family did not learn that Marcus had died until an officer called at about 4:00 a.m., nearly seven hours after the crash.

What the police said

In a press release on March 2, 2026, the Rialto Police Department said its officers tried to stop a vehicle that had been reported stolen, the driver fled, and a pursuit followed. It said the driver ran a red light at Highland and Pepper and hit another car, and that Marcus Loring died at the hospital. Police arrested the driver and booked him on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter, felony evading resulting in death, and possession of a stolen vehicle. A judge ordered him held without bail. The San Bernardino Police Department's Major Accident Investigation Team is also investigating.

The criminal case against the driver is separate from the family's claims. An arrest or a charge is an accusation. The driver is presumed innocent unless and until he is proven guilty.

The legal question: when is a city responsible for a pursuit crash?

In California, a public agency is generally liable for death or injury caused by the negligent driving of its employees (Vehicle Code § 17001). Pursuits are different. Under Vehicle Code § 17004.7, an agency is immune from liability for a crash caused by a fleeing driver if it has adopted a written pursuit policy that meets minimum standards set by the statute, and if it has promulgated that policy as the statute requires, including regular training and a written certification from each officer.

So cases like this one look closely at the agency's policy, its training records and its officers' certifications, and at how officers decided to start, continue or end the chase. Read more about claims after police pursuit crashes.

Why this case matters

People hit by fleeing drivers did nothing wrong. They were driving home, walking, or waiting at a light. This case asks a direct question: when police already know where a stolen car is, is a high-speed chase through city streets worth a life?

The City of Rialto has not been found liable. It will have the chance to respond to the claims.

Sources

• Claims for damages of Jesse Loring, Margaret Loring and Jessica Loring, received by the Rialto City Clerk on August 20, 2026.
• Rialto Police Department, "Felon with multiple arrests and convictions arrested again," press release, March 2, 2026.
• California Vehicle Code § 17004.7 (pursuit policy immunity).