FERNDALE (WWJ) - A driver who was trying to flee from police along 8 Mile Road ended up causing a crash that sent four other people to the hospital.
The incident unfolded around 9:15 p.m. Friday when a Ferndale Police officer on patrol in the area of 8 Mile and West End Street saw a 2019 black Nissan Pathfinder on westbound 8 Mile traveling at a high rate of speed. The officer paced the vehicle and determined it was being driven at 70 mph in a 40 mph zone.
As the officer activated his emergency lights to stop the vehicle near Livernois, the driver initially appeared to be pulling over and even turned on the vehicle's four-way emergency flashers. Then the driver suddenly drove away from the officer at speeds ranging from the posted speed limit of 40 to in excess of 70 mph.
After about a mile, the fleeing driver crashed into a vehicle that was occupied by three elderly occupants, at 8 Mile and Wyoming in Royal Oak Township. The driver then ran from the crash scene but was quickly arrested by a Michigan State Police trooper a short distance away.
All three elderly occupants were injured. The driver and back-seat passenger were transported to a nearby hospital in temporary serious but stable condition. The front seat passenger was also transported to the hospital and her condition is serious and unstable.
A passenger in the fleeing vehicle, a 26-year-old female from Iowa, suffered serious injuries in the crash and was transported to the hospital in serious but stable condition.
The driver of the fleeing vehicle, a 26-year-old man with an address in Florida, is in custody in the Ferndale Police lockup pending the issuance of warrants.
The incident remains under investigation.
