CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A break-in at a Charlotte-Mecklenburg high school led to a police chase late Thursday. It turns out the chase, which was conducted not by officers with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department but by officers with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, should never have happened.

The two officers with CMS Law Enforcement will face disciplinary action after they chased two suspected burglars they said were racing away from East Mecklenburg High School, CMS officials said.

According to authorities, around 11 p.m. a man and a woman broke into the school and started taking TVs, VCRs, DVD players and other electronics. An alarm sounded and CMS police arrived while the suspects were still there. They fled, taking off down Monroe Road, and the officers chased them, police said.

Bud Cesena, who heads the CMS police force, said it appears that was a mistake.

"As I understand the way the pursuit evolved, it was not within our policy," he said.

Cesena said his department's pursuit policy mirrors Charlotte-Mecklenburg police, who only chase when there has been a crime that threatens life. A burglary doesn't qualify.

"Over my 30 years of police work, I can say without a doubt that a property crime is not worth a pursuit," Cesena said.

After Matthews and Stallings police joined the pursuit and CMS police pulled back, the vehicle was stopped and Michael Philmon and Crystal Hudson were charged.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police did respond to the high school but did not get involved in the pursuit, and were not asked to.

Cesena said he's most concerned about making sure this doesn’t happen again.

"We're placing our officers in a dangerous position, if we say that it's OK to pursue," he said.

At this time CMS is not naming the two officers or discussing their possible punishment because it is considered a personnel matter. A CMS spokesperson did say any chase involving CMS Law Enforcement is very rare.

School law enforcement officers are different from school security guards because they are sworn officers who have all the powers of city police or county sheriff's deputies.

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