Farmington Hills couple killed in head-on collision after suspect driver fleeing police cuts headlights, enters wrong way on Lodge Freeway

SOUTHFIELD (WWJ) - A Farmington Hills couple were killed early Saturday morning after authorities say a suspect driver being pursued by police entered the Lodge Freeway going the wrong direction and struck a vehicle head-on, troopers confirmed.

Michigan State Police shut down the northbound lanes on the Lodge Freeway at Lasher Road since around 1:30 a.m. on January 6th after the crash on northbound M-10 near Civic Center Drive.

MSP released an update around noon, over 10 hours after the wreck, stating the suspect caught the attention of troopers when they noticed a 2006 Ford Super Duty pick up truck -- that had earlier been reported stolen -- in the back of a gas station on Eight Mile Road.

According to troopers, the suspect driver backed up the truck, nearly hitting the troopers, before leaving the scene. The patrol troopers attempted to pull the driver over, but the truck took off.

"The pursuit continued north onto the Lodge and the suspect exited on northbound Telegraph Road and shut their headlights off. The suspect then made a u turn and drove southbound on Telegraph," MSP said in a social media post about the incident.

The suspect driver then entered M-10 going the wrong direction, troopers added, with the suspect going southbound in the northbound lanes with its headlights still off.

The truck then collided head-on with a 2011 GMC Terrain, occupied by a 45-year-old man and a 43-year-old woman from Famington Hills, near Civic Center Drive.

Both the man and the women were pronounced dead at the scene. MSP First Lt. Mike Shaw confirmed with WWJ the victims were husband and wife and that their family has been notified.

"The occupants of the suspect vehicle, a 35 year old male (driver) from Romulus and a 29 year old female (passenger) from Detroit are listed in serious condition at a local hospital, but are expected to survive," MSP said, adding there would be no further updates at this time.

A tipster told WWJ he was in the area and saw a "pretty bad crash" involving at least two vehicles with one stalled and mangled in the middle of the road and the other vehicle wrapped around a sign.

Southfield Police Chief Elvin Barren told WWJ's Taylor Dietz earlier in the morning that his department was not handling the Lodge situation, but did say "from what he knew" there had been a police pursuit and the suspect vehicle ended up crashing into another car on M-10 after Lasher.

Barren believed there were "multiple fatalities," but did not know specific details.

The Oakland County Medical Examiner's Office would neither confirm nor deny if they received any victims from the incident when contacted by WWJ in the mid-morning hours.

MSP said one their investigation is complete, they will provide their findings to the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office for review.

This is a developing story. Stay tuned to WWJ LIVE for the latest updates.