Danbury (CT) Police are investigating after a police pursuit ended in a serious crash, killing 3 and injuring 2.
The crash was the result of a high speed police pursuit out of Putnam County, New York when the car fled a traffic stop.
The Putnam County Deputy Sheriff Donald Smith was in a marked cruiser on patrol along Route 6 in the town of Southeast, New York. Around 4:20 a.m., he saw a car travelling eastbound on the highway driving erratically and swerving over the center-line of the road.
Smith suspected the driver was intoxicated, and attempted to pull the car over. The diver didn’t comply, and continued to drive eastbound towards Connecticut. Smith followed, and the speeds were initially under the speed limit.
Smith continued to follow the car across the state line. The Danbury Police Department was notified, and was told to be on the lookout for the car.
About three-quarters of a mile into Connecticut, Smith decelerated but the suspect’s car accelerated away. About 15 seconds later it ran off the road and crashed into a metal utility pole at the intersection of Mill Plain Road and Milestone Road in Danbury.
The car, a white Nissan Maxima, had 5 people inside. The driver and the male passengers were killed on impact.