DREXEL HILL, Pa. (CBS) – Video obtained exclusively by CBS News Philadelphia of a Pennsylvania State Police chase that ended with two troopers crashing in Delaware County puts the agency’s pursuit policies under scrutiny and raises questions as to why the pursuit began in the first place.

The video showed state troopers chasing a Ford Taurus through a bustling Township Line Shopping Center parking lot in Drexel Hill around lunchtime Tuesday.

Earlier this week, eyewitnesses described what they saw and explained their concerns.

“It’s crazy because there’s a school zone and it’s been a work zone for the past week,” Allison Murtaugh, who works at a nearby restaurant, said. “Kids get out of school. It’s a church. Like I said, it’s a work zone, 15 mph on top of the school zone. They could’ve killed somebody on top of themselves.”

The video showed the car’s bumper dragging and the rear window gone. The car and its two occupants then exited the shopping center, making a right onto Burmont Road.

Investigators said the driver got away from police.

How did the chase start?

According to an internal police patrol alert we obtained, Upper Providence Township police claimed they spotted that Ford Taurus, believed to be connected to some unspecified thefts, many hours earlier on Monday night in Springfield, Delaware County.

The Taurus had a Delaware temporary tag partially covered by a black trash bag, according to the alert.

The driver’s head, according to the document, did not come above the seat headrest.

Police attempted to stop the car at Route 352 and Gradyville Road when the pursuit began.

Police chased the car for miles, eventually reaching Route 1, where eyewitness Evan Gross of Robbinsville, Mercer County, was driving at the time.

“I’ve never seen a police chase before, but it seemed to be kind of reckless the way they were chasing him,” Gross said. “I didn’t expect to hear the suspect got away and two police cars crashed.”

The police chase eventually made its way to Rolling Road and Route 1 in Springfield, at which time a state police spokesperson said, “Two Pennsylvania State Police vehicles that were assisting were involved in a collision between each other.”

However according to the alert, “The pursuit was terminated in the area of North State Road and West Rolling Road due to the operator driving in the opposing traffic lanes. The vehicle was last seen traveling on North State Road missing its rear bumper.”

The pursuit was terminated in the area of North State and West Rolling roads due to the operator driving in the opposing traffic lanes. The vehicle was last seen traveling on North State Road missing its rear bumper.

But a PSP lieutenant spokesperson said while their investigation into the state police collision is ongoing, he wouldn’t comment on the contents of the alert and why surveillance video showed the chase continuing a mile farther down the road, where the second crashed state police cruiser came to a rest.

Chase raises questions about state police pursuit policy

The latest chase happened less than a week after three adults and a pregnant teenager died in a fiery crash as police pursued their vehicle in connection with retail thefts in Concord Township, according to investigators.

Law enforcement sources said speeds in that chase reached 110 MPH.

More questions are now raised about Pennsylvania State Police pursuit policies.

We asked for a copy. A state police spokesperson said, “For public safety and officer safety reasons, our pursuit policy is confidential.”

A message seeking comment from the North Providence Township police chief, where the chase Tuesday began, was not returned.

Neither trooper involved in Tuesday’s crash was injured.

Police are still looking for the people who were inside the Ford Taurus.

All five relevant state regulatory boards in Pennsylvania have approved a policy opposing conversion therapy for minors and warning the professionals they license that they may be disciplined for violating it.

The state Board of Nursing Thursday joined the boards of Medicine, Psychology, Osteopathic Medicine, and Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, and Professional Counselors, which all voted recently to adopt new statements of policy saying minors should not be subjected to the discredited and harmful practice. Conversion therapy seeks to turn LGBTQ+ people straight and/or cisgender.

“This decisive action makes clear that there is no place for the harmful, dangerous practice of conversion therapy here in our Commonwealth,” Gov. Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said in a press release. “We value real freedom here in Pennsylvania — and no matter what you look like, where you come from, who you pray to, or who you love, you should be able to express who you are and be free from harassment and discrimination. My Administration will continue working to make sure that everyone is protected, feels welcome, and can thrive in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

The new policies notify licensees that all five boards consider the use of conversion therapy to be unprofessional, harmful conduct and that any licensee engaging in it may be subject to administrative discipline.

“Since hateful rhetoric and pseudoscience still dominate the clinical experiences of many LGBTQ+ Pennsylvanians, knowing that our state oversight boards saw fit to pass these protections is a small weight off of our shoulders,” Ashleigh Strange, executive director of the Governor’s Advisory Commission on LGBTQ+ Affairs, said in the release. “This is a solid step toward letting folks know that identifying as LGBTQ+ is not a disease or a crime in Pennsylvania. You have a safe place here.”

The Trevor Project, which assists LGBTQ+ young people in crisis, including those considering suicide, told state boards this year that conversion therapy remains an issue in Pennsylvania despite an August 2022 executive order from then-Gov. Tom Wolf aimed at discouraging the practice. Legislators have attempted to pass bills outlawing use of conversion therapy on minors, but those bills have all stalled.

Troy Stevenson, director of state advocacy campaigns at the Trevor Project, issued a statement praising Pennsylvania’s action. “The Trevor Project’s research found that young people who reported undergoing conversion therapy were more than twice as likely to report having attempted suicide in the past year,” he said. “Knowing that an estimated 44 percent of LGBTQ+ youth, including 54 percent of transgender and nonbinary youth, in Pennsylvania seriously considered suicide in the past year, these actions are especially critical for ensuring the health and safety of young people across the state. We are grateful to the Shapiro administration, the Pennsylvania Commission on LGBTQ Affairs, the National Association of Social Workers Pennsylvania Chapter, the Pennsylvania Psychological Association, PFLAG, National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Human Rights Campaign, and mental health professionals and advocates across the commonwealth, for their work over the last several years to protect the mental health and well-being of young people across the commonwealth.”

Twenty-two states and the District of Columbia have banned the use of conversion therapy on minors, according to the Movement Advancement Project. Five other states and Puerto Rico have taken actions that amount to a partial ban. Numerous cities and counties have enacted bans as well.

The American Medical Association, American Psychiatric Association, American Psychological Association, and many other professional groups have repudiated the practice due to lack of scientific evidence supporting it and the risk of harm it poses to minors.