Police Pursuit Ends With 3 People Dead In North Baltimore Accident
BALTIMORE (WJZ)—An investigation is underway after a horrific early Tuesday morning car crash kills three people and hospitalizes a fourth.
Derek Valcourt reports a lot of folks are asking if a police chase may have led to the fatal crash.
Police admit their officers were following the car that slammed into a second car that just happened to be driving by a busy intersection.
WJZ obtained video, which shows fire erupting from both of the cars involved in the crash.
Rescue crews rushed to try to save one woman trapped inside a white Jeep and two men trapped inside a burning Honda Accord.
"I was up in my room, and I heard this big boom and then tires screech," said Angela Reeves, who lives near the crash scene.
Reeves and her husband raced out their door and started taking dramatic pictures seconds after the crash.
"A cop car was already here, and when we came outside helicopters were already circling," Reeves said.
Police officials explain plainclothes officers in an unmarked car had been following the Honda Accord all the way from Harford Road and E. 25th Street, where the officers witnessed some sort of criminal activity.
"They attempted to stop the vehicle. The vehicle did not stop for the officers," said Jerry Rodriguez, deputy police commissioner.
As the Honda Accord fled from police, it broadsided the Jeep at Northern Parkway and York Road.
Though the collision happened back in the intersection, the force of the impact was so severe it sent both vehicles flying down a slope, where they came to rest.
"This is the worst accident I've seen," said Paul Black, who lives near the scene.
WJZ spoke with Black, who watched and recorded rescue crews pulling a woman out of the Jeep's passenger seat. She died, as did the two men in the Honda Accord. The two men in the Accord have been identified as Devell Johns and Terrell Young.
The Jeep's driver survived and is listed in critical condition.
"He came staggering down and then like fell right here," Black said.
"He was dazed. He was sort of like he didn't know what was going on," Reeves said.
Police are trying to determine if their undercover officers were chasing a suspect in violation of the department's restrictive pursuit policy.
"We have a lot of questions right now, and unfortunately we have more questions than answers," Rodriguez said.
Police say their investigation is ongoing.
That major intersection at York and Northern Parkway was shut down for hours following the crash, causing backups and delays during the morning rush hour.
