WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A man fleeing police died in a vehicle crash Tuesday following a three minute police pursuit in the area of 10 Mile and Ryan in Warren.
“Like every police pursuit, this pursuit was closely monitored in real time by patrol supervisors. Traffic was light and the speeds were moderate throughout the entire pursuit which lasted approximately 3 minutes in length. Thankfully, no officers or other motorists were injured during this incident. We are aware of one handgun being located in the vehicle at this point in the investigation. I know that our investigators will be examining the driver’s background to gather more insight into this situation. This driver is dead due to the choice he made to flee from officers. Fleeing the police unfortunately cost this driver his life,” Commissioner Dwyer said.
At approximately 12:09 p.m. Tuesday, two Warren police officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a red 2015 Chevy Cruze in the area of Van Dyke and Stephens. When officers approached the vehicle, police say a Black male driver, and lone occupant of the vehicle, informed the officers he did not have identification. The driver was then asked to exit the vehicle, but he drove off.
Officers began pursuing the Chevy northbound on Lawrence, south of 10 Mile, in Center Line.
Based on evidence obtained during a preliminary investigation, Dwyer said the driver “drove in the grass/field near Lawrence and 10 Mile before traveling westbound 10 Mile approaching Ryan. At 10 Mile and Ryan, the suspect disregarded a solid red traffic signal for westbound Ryan and struck a Ford-150 and then a Penske Box Truck."
The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. No other injuries were reported.
Dwyer said a handgun was retrieved from the vehicle.
Tuesday afternoon, officers remained at the scene collected evidence and taking photos.
"We saw an ambulance and a fire truck and everything so we came this way and we came and parked. We got out. We saw a car underneath a truck," said Jaclyn Lentz as she stood at the crash scene.
Lentz says she lives nearby and often hears police chases as they zoom by.
"We’ve lived here for about 5 years now and it seems like everyday there’s some type of car accident because of a police chase," said Lentz. "My husband hears it every single night. We live two blocks off of mound. Our windows are thin. We hear it and it literally sounds like we have a race track by our street."
Just last month, the police department said there officers had been apart of 264 police pursuits since the beginning of 2023. Community members like Lentz say they want to chases to stop to prevent innocent bystanders from potentially losing their lives.
"Slow down! It’s not worth it. You have the license plate. You know where he lives. This could have been prevented," said Lentz.
It is still unclear what the reason was for the initial stop. Warren Police Department say the crash and pursuit remain under investigation.
"We take everything into consideration: our road conditions, weather, traffic conditions things like that. The one thing that we’ve learned through the pursuits over the years is just because we back off doesn’t necessarily mean that the person running from us is going to slow down. It still creates a danger for the community. So again we take many factors into consideration before we either allow a pursuit to continue of terminate," said Captain Charles Rushton with Warren Police Department.
The scene is still active and motorists are asked to avoid the area.
