The Tribune

By EARYEL BOWLEG

ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A MAN died in a fiery crash after leading police on a car chase in the Carmichael Road area where he collided with a parked Mack truck.

Police are expressing concern about public safety after the incident, the second fatal crash involving men attempting to evade police capture in less than two weeks.  

According to police, the latest incident happened shortly before 11pm on Sunday as officers were responding to reports of people fighting in the street at Milfred Avenue off Carmichael Road. 

Chief Superintendent Craig Stubbs, head of the Traffic Division, told The Tribune: “A homeowner… called the police reporting that there were some persons at his residence creating a disturbance where he was having a private function for family and friends. Police arrived on scene, they would have spoken to the private homeowner who pointed out a vehicle.”

Witnesses at the scene pointed out police to a man who was sitting in a silver coloured Nissan Skyline. As the officers approached the vehicle, the man sped off, leading police on a chase that ended on Carmichael Road west of Gladstone Road. Chief Superintendent Stubbs said the driver, who was known to police, hit a number of things on the road.

“The vehicle then exited onto Carmichael Road and was travelling west when the driver lost control and collided with a utility pole. He would have continued travelling off the westbound (land)….where he then collided with a tree…..then he collided with a parked Mack truck. Once the vehicle came at rest, it burst into flames.”

Police Fire Services came to extinguish the flames. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police are trying to identify the young man as he was burned beyond recognition. However, CSP Stubbs said they have an idea who he was based on the owner of the car who came on the scene, but a positive ID must be done by DNA. 

This incident follows another police chase that happened on February 1. Police said officers were acting on information shortly after 9pm when they visited the Golden Gates area and saw a silver coloured car that was occupied by two men who were behaving suspiciously. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, suspecting the men to have been involved in an armed robbery, however the driver led police on a high-speed chase. 

Police said the driver lost control and ran into a concrete wall on the western side of Baillou Hill Road, near Moonshine Drive.

“The driver was ejected from the vehicle,” a police statement said. “EMS and Fire Services were called to the scene where the passenger had to be extracted.”

The driver was pronounced dead on the scene and the passenger was taken to the hospital where he eventually died from his injuries.

CSP Stubbs advised members of the public not to evade police as they will be pursued. 

“Just stop. If you commit an offence, deal with the consequences but when you take these….high-speed chase, you’re putting everybody, all road users or persons who are not associated with the chase at risk for harm or death,” he said.

On Friday, National Security Minister Marvin Dames said the February 1 crash was “unfortunate” and “tragic” yet it was not “uncommon” for police chases to end badly.

“If you watch the news, you would see in the United States and other places, these high-speed chases that happen from time to time, end in disaster. If not disaster for the persons who are being chased, it’s some innocent civilian standing on the side of the road,” he said.