Man charged for stealing car that led to crash into building that killed pedestrian in East Baltimore
BALTIMORE -- Police arrested a man accused of stealing a car and then crashing into a building that collapsed on a 54-year-old man in East Baltimore.
Shawn Lee Brunson, 33, has been charged with stolen auto, which happened on February 7. Police said other charges are pending.
Police said 54-year-old Alfred Fincher was killed and several other people were injured after the crash caused a building to partially collapse in East Baltimore on Wednesday night.
Police said the crash happened shortly after 9 p.m. when the driver of a suspected stolen car took off "at a high rate of speed" as officers approached it.
"Just let it go, guys," one person said. "Traveling westbound on Sinclair. It's traveling at a high rate of speed. It looks like it's going to go southbound on Wolfe."
Near the intersection of North Avenue and North Wolfe Street, the car struck another vehicle, sending both cars into a sidewalk and into the building, causing the collapse.
"Yeah, it just hit a car," the person said. "Collapsed building. Building just fell on it. North and Wolfe."
Fincher was pulled from the debris, but pronounced dead on the scene, police said.
"That's real sad, man, for something like that to happen," Baltimore resident Thurman Edwards said. "I'm quite sure his family is going through it right now."
Five other people, including two in the stolen car, were injured and transported to other hospitals, police said. Their condition was not immediately known.
First responders did not say whether the survivors were inside one of two vehicles when the building collapsed.
A special rescue team rushed to the collision site to stabilize the building and assist with the recovery process, according to the local firefighter's union.
At least five medics were sent to the site of the collision, union officials said.
"I never heard nothing like that before," said John More, who lives nearby. "I thought maybe somebody got shot again."
The Baltimore Police Department's Crash Team investigators have been sent to the site of the building collapse, too, according to authorities.
It is unclear if the officers gave chase to the stolen car. The officers' actions in the incident are under investigation.
"We'll look at all the body-worn cameras and any other video to see what in fact happened that caused the vehicle to take off and cause this accident," a police official said Wednesday night.
"I hate that I moved around here," More said. "Wrong place at the wrong time, you know. That's why I mind my business and I stay in the house."