The Independent Office for Police Conduct launched an investigation into the circumstances leading up to the fatal crash and the involvement of West Midlands Police officers.
The watchdog said two patrol cars had started following a van in Kingstanding, Birmingham, after receiving reports of suspicious activity.
They stopped following the van when it came off the road and went up an embankment at Aston Wood Golf Club, where it hit Cherry.
Prosecution barrister Michael Burrows KC told the court that in spring last year, the three men “were involved in a fraud on elderly householders”, charging “exorbitant amounts” for carrying out bad roof repairs.
On 11 April, a police officer in a marked vehicle saw them “by chance” and decided to follow them, after one of them turned their head away after noticing her, the court heard.
The van was driven off at high speed, sometimes on the wrong side of the road and on the pavement, with John McDonald even using it to ram the police car by reversing into it, Burrows said.