HOUSTON, TX – Two teenagers have lost their lives and two others are injured after a police chase resulted in a single-car rollover in Houston. The tragic incident occurred in the early hours of January 12 near the intersection of South Loop West and South Interstate Highway 610 West, according to the Houston Police Department (HPD).
HPD spokesperson Sergeant Derrick Hall and Officer R. Singleton reported that Southeast patrol officers spotted a stolen vehicle in the area of Gulf Freeway and Park Place Boulevard. When the officers attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver refused to stop and fled from police at a high speed. The pursuit eventually led to the fatal crash.
The driver of the stolen vehicle, a 19-year-old male, and a 16-year-old male passenger were pronounced dead at the scene by Houston Fire Department paramedics. They were ejected from the car during the rollover. The male front passenger, 18, and the female back right passenger, 16, were both transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The identities of the deceased have not been released, pending notification of their families by the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. The HPD has not provided further details about the crash.
The rollover occurred on the I-45 Gulf Freeway’s northbound connector ramp to the eastbound I-610 South Loop. As a result, the ramp remains closed while authorities investigate the incident.
Initial reports indicate that the police pursuit began when officers located the stolen vehicle near Broadway Street and Santa Elena Street and tried to initiate a traffic stop. The driver refused to comply and continued northbound on Broadway before turning onto the Gulf Freeway. However, the driver failed to navigate the ramp from the Gulf Freeway to the South Loop, resulting in the car colliding with the railing and subsequently rolling over.