Police chase ends in deadly multi-vehicle crash in Lakeland
LAKELAND, Fla. - An innocent person was killed, and several others were injured when a vehicle being chased by police crashed at a Lakeland intersection, according to the Plant City Police Department.
Captain Alfred Van Duyne of the Plant City Police Department says the agency got a call around 9:35 a.m. on Thursday about a woman who was possibly being held against her will inside a vehicle.
As the call was coming in, Van Duyne said that the dispatchers believed they heard that the woman had been stabbed.
He went on to say that police used phone pings to track down the suspected vehicle and got behind it. However, when police tried to pull the vehicle over, it did not stop and the officer chased it, according to Van Duyne.
Police say the chase went through several Plant City streets before the suspect got on I-4 eastbound.
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According to Van Duyne, police stopped chasing the suspect's vehicle before it got off the interstate, but it was located a short time later in Lakeland.
That’s when Van Duyne said police began chasing it again. He said the female passenger was able to escape from the vehicle, but the driver kept going and eventually crashed at Frontage Road and Harden Blvd., near Polk Parkway.
Van Duyne said one person was killed in the crash, and four others, including the suspect, were injured.
"They were just an unfortunate, innocent victim," he said.
Aerial view of a fatal mutli-vehicle crash in Lakeland near the Polk Parkway.
Van Duyne noted that the female passenger who sparked the event did not appear to be seriously injured, although he admitted he had not spoken to her yet.
Van Duyne was not able to confirm if the woman had been stabbed.
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"Pursuits are dangerous," Van Duyne stated. "However, we have policies that specify when we can pursue, and if it meets the criteria, then a pursuit is initiated and there are many factors that go into the decision of the supervisors that are working at that time."
He added, if the woman was stabbed it would have been an aggravated assault or aggravated battery, which means the situation would have met the criteria for a police chase.
The Lakeland Police Department is investigating the crash, and the Plant City Police Department is investigating the events that took place in their jurisdiction.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
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