St. Louis officials are releasing more information about a fatal pedestrian accident that occurred early Saturday morning at MLK and Academy.
Public Safety Director Dan Isom said the incident started when police tried to stop a car driving erratically that took off.
"After he took of and subsequently crashed, unfortunately an innocent citizen was killed by this reckless driver," Isom said.
The pedestrian died at the scene. The suspect survived the crash and was taken to the hospital.
Isom said he doesn't want to make investigative conclusions about whether or not the suspect was being pursued when the pedestrian was hit.
The pedestrian death comes amid efforts from the NAACP to help reduce danger from police pursuits. The organization has pointed out that police chases can lead to deaths of officers, suspects, or uninvolved innocent civilians. They have been workshopping ways to make police pursuits less deadly.
There have been 12 pedestrian deaths in St. Louis so far this year. It's been a cause for concern in many St. Louis neighborhoods, including on South Grand, where the community saw three traffic deaths in three weeks earlier this summer.
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