Video shows deadly crash during police chase on Chicago's South Side
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Investigators have released video showing a crash that killed one person and injured two others during a police chase last month on the South Side.
The crash happened shortly before 2 a.m. on Oct. 1 at the intersection of 35th Street and Ashland Avenue in the McKinley Park neighborhood.
Video released by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability shows a 2025 Kia Soul waiting at a stop light in the southbound lanes of Ashland before starting to make a left turn onto 35th Street when the light changed to a green left turn signal. A speeding 2007 Lexus Es350 sedan headed north on Ashland ran the red light, and slammed into the Kia, before the Lexus crashed into a nearby building, which partially collapsed.
Other videos released by COPA show at least three Chicago police squad cars chasing the Lexus before the crash. The closest police car was more than a block behind the Lexus at the moment of the crash.
Police have said the passenger in the Lexus was thrown from the vehicle in the crash, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Cook County Medical Examiner's office identified the man as 18-year-old Luis Angel Mendez Reyes, of Cicero.
The driver of the Lexus was seriously injured, and two weapons were recovered from the Lexus, police said.
The driver of the SUV suffered minor injuries. No officers were injured.
Body camera video showed that the driver of the Kia told police the Lexus "came out of nowhere."
"I had the green light. I was going to turn. This dude came flying. Did you see how fast he was going?" he said.
Police have said the chase started after officers on patrol investigating robberies in the area of the 5500 block of South Pulaski Road saw two people, believed to be armed, getting into a black Lexus sedan. When officers tried to investigate, the Lexus sped off and officers gave chase.
COPA has not yet ruled on whether the chase was justified. Chicago Police Department rules dictate when officers can chase vehicles, requiring officers to conduct what is known as a balancing test. Officers must consider both the seriousness of the crime that prompted the chase, the potential danger to pedestrians, how much traffic is on the road, and what the road conditions are.
