The families of two people killed during a short police chase in Homewood in 2006 have sued the city and its Police Bureau, saying officers were negligent in how they conducted the 11-second traffic stop and pursuit.

Downtown attorney Alan Perer, flanked at his law office yesterday by relatives of the victims, Jerome Smith and Michelle Rankin, said the city is liable for their deaths and should pay for the care of the seven children they left behind.

At rush hour on May 25, 2006, three officers in an unmarked car tried to pull over Devon Miles after spotting broken brake lights on his pickup.

He sped off, ran a red light at 60 mph and slammed into a car carrying Mr. Smith, 34, of Stanton Heights, and Ms. Rankin, 35, of Wilkinsburg.

Both were pronounced dead at the scene.

Mr. Smith had five young children and Ms. Rankin had two, one of whom, Lakeisha Rankin, 21, attended the news conference along with Mr. Smith's parents, Wanda Moore, 53, and Chester Glenn, 54, and his sister, Shawnece Moore, 32.

Mr. Perer said his firm has tried to negotiate a settlement with the city but hasn't received an offer, although he said he's "still hopeful" that one will be coming.

The law caps the amount in such a case at $500,000 for all plaintiffs, he said.

The families were willing to receive less, but with no offer, Mr. Perer said, they were "forced" to file suit.

It's not uncommon for lawyers in such cases to hold news conferences as a legal tactic.

The city law department said yesterday the office hadn't yet been served with the lawsuit and couldn't comment.

Mr. Perer said everyone involved understands that the police have a difficult job. But he also said the officers have an obligation to protect the public and should never have chased Mr. Miles in the first place.

"If they were chasing Jeffrey Dahmer, we could understand that," said Shawnece Moore, who lives in Stanton Heights. "But this man had a broken taillight."

Police later found he had a gun and drugs in the car.

But Mr. Perer said the officers -- Robert Pires, Jerry Kabala and Sean Rattigan, who was driving -- didn't know that at the time.

"The fact that these things were discovered doesn't justify the chase," he said.

The lawsuit is based on several claims, including the assertion that a high-speed chase was unreasonable for a residential city neighborhood where the speed limit is 25 mph.

One of the central "questions," Mr. Perer said, is whether the siren was activated the whole time.

The families said witnesses at Bennett Street and North Lang Avenue, where the crash occurred, said they didn't hear one.

They also claim Mr. Smith, who was on his way from Home Depot, would not have driven into the intersection if he'd heard a siren.

But in a 911 tape of the chase played at a previous hearing for Mr. Miles, the siren can be heard from the beginning.

Lt. Phil Dacey, the former commander of the East Liberty station, and Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki, head of major crimes, both said the officers had begun checking Mr. Miles' license plate when he sped away.

He had driven a little more than the distance of three football fields when the crash happened, so the incident was over before it turned into a true pursuit, police said.

Mr. Dacey, who has since left the force, said at the time of the preliminary hearing that even if the siren had not been on, it wouldn't have made a difference because Mr. Miles was already speeding through the red light as the chase began.