Garland Police Chase Ends In Fiery Fatal Crash
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DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - A carjacking suspect who was being chased by police in Garland died early Thursday when the vehicle that he was driving crashed on a Dallas freeway service road and then caught on fire.
The sound of the crash was so loud that it startled workers and customers at an all-nite diner 200 yards away.
"And then one of our customers who is sitting in the back booth said, 'Y'all look!' and then we see the fire and the fire starting to grow," said Myesha Hicks, a server at Waffle House. "(The fire) starts off like real small then after a while, we're steady watching it, it just grew and grew and grew."
Police explained that the suspect was wanted after an aggravated robbery and carjacking at Hill Park at Indian Lake at around 11:00 p.m. on Wednesday. According to authorities, it all started when a man and a woman were approached by two suspects at the park and were then robbed at gun point.
The woman fled and was chased by one of the suspects. She was able to get to a nearby house and was not injured. The second suspect grabbed the man's cell phone and keys to the couple's Nissan Pathfinder, and took off in the SUV, said Lt. Pedro Barineau of the Garland Police Department.
The suspects were described as black males, one wearing a grey hoodie wielding a handgun, and one wearing a black hoodie.
"Both the victims, when they were robbed, the female ran away from location. They both ran to residences and called 911, and it was at those two different residences that our officers contacted both the male and the female," Barineau stated. "So, both of the victims are okay."
About an hour later, a Garland police officer spotted the stolen vehicle near the Walmart located along Broadway Avenue. The SUV stopped at first. But, as officers approached the vehicle, the driver sped off and a chase began. The pursuit traveled along Interstate-30 to the service road at Jim Miller Road in Dallas, Barineau said.
At that point, the driver lost control of the SUV and crashed into a light pole. The vehicle caught on fire and, despite efforts by police officers to help, the flames were too intense. The suspect wearing the grey hoodie inside was not able to get out. He was pronounced dead at the scene. The name of the victim has not yet been released, while, the second suspect wearing the black hoodie is still at large.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Office has lead on the crash investigation since it occurred along that part of Interstate-30, east of downtown Dallas.
Joel Thomas contributed to this story