2 killed in fiery I-10 crash during police pursuit
Two people were killed early Monday in a fiery freeway crash in the West Valley while being chased by an off-duty Goodyear police officer, authorities said.
The crash occurred about 2:45 a.m. when the fleeing motorist drove across an Interstate 10 embankment and struck a tree at the eastbound Avondale Boulevard exit in Avondale.
"After impact the car caught fire," said Ralph McLaughlin, a Goodyear police commander.
Officers managed to remove two girls, ages 14 and 17, from the back seat of the vehicle, McLaughlin said. They were taken to Valley hospitals for treatment.
But officers could not get to the 26-year-old driver and a 19-year-old front-seat passenger, both males, and the pair died at the scene, McLaughlin added.
Police did not immediately release the names of any of the four.
McLaughlin said the incident began when the Goodyear officer, who was on his way home in a police cruiser, spotted a car running a red light near Litchfield and McDowell roads in Goodyear.
The officer, whom McLaughlin did not immediately identify, also observed the vehicle weaving in the roadway and other signs of possible impairment, he said.
The officer tried to pull over the car when it got on I-10, but the driver refused to stop and sped east on the freeway with his three passengers, ultimately crashing the vehicle after about a three-mile pursuit, he said.
Investigators later determined that the wrecked car had been reported stolen by El Mirage police, McLaughlin said.
He said that under pursuit guidelines adopted by Goodyear police, officers may give chase to a drunken-driving suspect if they believe the suspect poses a risk to public safety.
However, officers must call off the pursuit if the danger to others resulting from a chase outweighs the need to apprehend the suspect, he said.
Goodyear police will review the circumstances of Monday's pursuit and determine if it was carried out within department guidelines, McLaughlin said.
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