Four people are dead after an early Thursday morning car chase involving Irving police ended in a crash near Interstate 35 and Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Dallas, police officials said.
In a post on X,the Irving Police Department said officers found a stolen vehicle in the 3200 block of North Belt Line Road around 2 a.m. Thursday.
When officers attempted a traffic stop, the vehicle drove off. Officers began chasing the vehicle into Dallas, where police said the driver "lost control" near I-35 and Woodall Rogers.
All four people in the car died.
Irving Police spokesperson Anthony Alexander told WFAA the department's pursuit policy allows officers to chase stolen vehicles. Another police spokesperson told KERA in an email the crash investigation is still underway, and the department policy is only available via public records request.
The station also reported a Dallas sheriff's deputy was injured in the pursuit when a light pole fell on his car during the crash, but he's expected to be OK.
The fatal pursuit crash comes as the Fort Worth Police Department is under scrutiny for keeping its vehicle pursuit policy confidential in the aftermath of two fatal crashes in the city last summer.
Fort Worth police arrested three men Wednesday after another police chase resulted in a crash that injured a bystander.
After multiple news outlets made public records requests for the policy, the city sued the Texas Attorney General's office to keep withholding the documents.
The controversy over Fort Worth’s policy and other deadly pursuits across North Texas has drawn wider attention and scrutiny in the past year from the public and police departments themselves.
White Settlement police announced in January they’re opting to use Star Chase GPS tracking technology to avoid the risks that come with high-speed car chases. Chief Christopher Cook said in an interview with KERA and the Fort Worth Report pursuits require officers to make split-second decisions, constantly evaluating individual factors on the road and the danger involved.
"What makes them difficult for us as law enforcement is they're unpredictable,” Cook said. “You don't get to choose what that suspect's going to do. If they're going to brake hard, if they're going to go off road, if they're going to speed up to 120 miles an hour, whatever, like all of those are out of your control. And so, all of that prompted us to look at Star Chase.”
The Police Executive Research Forum, a national police policy and research think tank, also released a report last year with guidance on how law enforcement should approach car chases. It includes recommendations about what alleged crimes are worth pursuit suspect vehicles for and guidelines for transparency when it comes to sharing police policies with the public.
Got a tip? Email Toluwani Osibamowo at tosibamowo@kera.org. You can follow Toluwani on Twitter @tosibamowo.
KERA News is made possible through the generosity of our members. If you find this reporting valuable, consider making a tax-deductible gift today. Thank you.
