Irving police chase ends in Downtown Dallas crash; 4 dead, deputy injured
DALLAS - What started as a high-speed chase in Irving ended in Downtown Dallas with a crash that killed four people and a massive rush-hour traffic backup.
Irving police said they located a stolen car at about 2 a.m. Thursday and tried to pull it over in the 3200 block of North Belt Line Road, but the driver took off toward Dallas.
The car was traveling at a high rate of speed on southbound Interstate 35E, when it took the Woodall Rodgers ramp.
The driver didn’t slow down, and ultimately the car vaulted off the ramp. It landed on the grassy median below the highway near the Dallas North Tollway exit.
All four people in the stolen vehicle died in the crash.
"Officers are required to constantly monitor the situation as they're in a pursuit of a vehicle. I will say that time goes fast in a pursuit. But it's their job to make sure that they're being safe at all times," said Officer Anthony Alexander with the Irving Police Department. "This is a tragic event. I won't speak to the specifics of it but I will say it is a very tragic event."
Dash camera video shared by Irving police shows the crash in the distance.
You can see the car on fire on the ground below.
"He just went over, crash underneath, massive fire," an officer is heard saying in the video.
A Dallas County sheriff’s deputy was injured in the crash.
He was trying to lay out spike strips along the highway. Just as the crash happened, a light pole fell onto his squad car.
He was taken to a hospital with a minor injury to his arm.
"It’s great that the deputy wasn’t seriously injured. I mean, it was probably a freak thing that the light pole falls down and then you hit a light pole. So, it’s good that he’s got minor injuries," said Doug Sisk, a spokesman for the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office.
A drone was used to give investigators a bird’s eye view of the violent crash and debris field, as car parts were scattered across a wide area, which kept ramps and roads closed for hours.
Both the northbound and southbound ramps from I-35E to Woodall Rodgers were closed because of the police activity. The Continental Avenue exit was also closed. Those exits have since reopened.
A decision by the driver to make a dangerous run from the police that proved deadly to four people.
"So this is a very tragic event. I won’t speak to the specifics of it, but I will say it is a very tragic event," Alexander said.
Both the Irving Police Department and the Dallas County Sheriff's Office are investigating the crash.