HOUSTON, TX – A brief police chase in southeast Houston ended tragically when the driver of a stolen vehicle lost control. This resulted in a fatal crash that took the lives of two young men and injured two other passengers.
The incident began shortly after 1 a.m. on Friday after patrol officers with the Houston Police Department (HPD) noticed the suspicious vehicle on Broadway Street near Santa Elena Street. When officers tried to stop the car, the driver, along with a front-seat passenger and two passengers in the back seat, fled the scene.
Assistant Chief Kevin Deese of HPD said, “They verified the vehicle was stolen through our dispatchers, attempted to make a traffic stop. The driver refused to stop, traveled north on Broadway, ended up on the Gulf Freeway.”
The pursuit came to a brutal end on the ramp from I-45 northbound to I-610 eastbound when the driver was unable to make the turn, crashing into a railing and causing the vehicle to roll over. The car ended up on its roof and was rendered almost unrecognizable.
Both the driver and the front passenger, believed to be in their late teens or early twenties, were pronounced dead at the scene. Meanwhile, the passengers in the back seat, an adult male and a juvenile female, were taken to a local hospital in stable condition.
The police pursuit was brief, lasting about five minutes, but the aftermath was significant. The closure is still in effect for the I-45 north exit ramp to I-610 east as the investigation into the fatal accident continues.