A juvenile offender that caused serious injury to a police officer would not be turned loose. His parent would have been notified and would have been required to pick up the juvenile.
Mathews is shown working in his office despite the late hour. Unlike patrol officers that work shifts to cover 24 hours, police administrators do not work late night shifts. This is contrary to daytime hours Mathews was shown to be working prior to this time.
Mathews violates basic police procedure by not inspecting the truck at the hospital. This is common practice for both accidents and crimes. Had he followed procedure, the stolen items would have been discovered, recovered, and the "he said / he said" situation could have been avoided. Patrol officers making mistakes of this nature would be subject to disciplinary action.