The driver of a vehicle that crashed into the rear end of another vehicle early this morning is hospitalized and in custody of the Emporia Police Department. Another person, in the second vehicle, also was taken to Newman Regional Health for treatment, according to records of the Emporia-Lyon County ambulance service.
The names of the injured are not expected to be available until Monday.
The accident was reported at 2:23 a.m. at East Sixth Avenue and Exchange Street, response records showed. Three patients were examined by emergency medical personnel at the scene; one of them was not taken to the hospital.
Police Chief Gary Smith said that the driver of the first vehicle, whose identity has not yet been confirmed, had been the subject of a chase after he reportedly had caused a problem at a local bar. The caller who reported the incident provided a description of the man's vehicle, which was observed as it passed by two police officers who were at working another traffice stop.
"One of the officers that was at the traffic stop saw him on (Highway) 50," Smith said.
That officer got into his patrol car and followed the suspect vehicle, using the light bar to try to get the man to pull over. When the driver did not stop, Smith said, the officer turned on the vehicle's siren and again the driver did not respond. When it became apparent that he was heading toward the downtown area, officers discontinued the chase.
"Then they realized he wasn’t going to stop, they pulled back and tried to keep him under observation," Smith said.
A reconstruction of the accident is being done to determine details.
"From what I was told, it was a pretty rough accident," Smith said. "We won't know the speeds until the accident is reconstructed."
A utility pole was knocked to the ground in the accident.
The incident was one of several this weekend that involved EPD officers.
Emporia police were called to the scene of a fatal shooting on East Logan Avenue Friday evening and, shortly before Sunday morning's chase, police had been called to a local motel for a report of a man with a gun, Smith said. That situation was resolved peacefully, though information is not yet available.
"I think our folks probably earned their keep over the weekend," he said.
hottopics (anonymous) says...
A full moon seems to bring out the worst it seems.
March 23, 2008 at 9:29 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )