WFAA-TV
Crews worked to free the officer and the suspects from their cars.
A suspect in a police chase was killed and a Dallas officer was one of two people injured after a police cruiser and the suspect's vehicle slammed into each other in Far East Dallas.
Witnesses said the vehicle being chased lost control about 10:20 a.m. in the 2900 block of North Buckner Boulevard and Peavy Road after trying to make a U-turn. The vehicle collided with the officer’s squad car.
Both were heavily damaged and came to rest against a telephone booth outside a convenience store and gas station.
Dallas police Senior Cpl. Max Geron said Officer Steven C. Oliphant, a nearly eight-year department veteran assigned to the northeast division, suffered broken ribs and a collapsed lung in the accident, as well as injuries to his left arm, cuts and bruises. He was listed in stable condition at Baylor University Medical Center Friday afternoon, and is expected to make a full recovery.
A man and woman in the vehicle that police were chasing were also taken to Baylor. The Dallas County Medical Examiner confirmed the male suspect, whose name was not immediately available, died at the hospital around 11:15 a.m. The female suspect, Trisha White of Alvarado, was listed in critical condition, Cpl. Geron said.
The chase began shortly before 10 a.m. on southbound Interstate 45 near the Illinois Avenue exit. Sgt. Don Peritz, Dallas County sheriff’s spokesman, said a constable attempted to make a traffic stop on a green Pontiac Grand Prix with expired inspection and registration stickers, but the driver fled.
Dallas police and sheriff’s deputies joined the chase as it continued along Interstate 20 past Highway 175 and onto Buckner Boulevard.
Witnesses said the suspect made a sharp right turn onto northbound Peavy Road from Buckner Blvd., then attempted a U-turn. The suspect appeared to lose control and collided with the Dallas officer’s cruiser, which was already headed south on Peavy.
The cars ended up next to each other against the phone booth, which was leaning precariously after the impact. The police car’s front end was smashed, leaving the officer pinned for several minutes before fire crews were able to pull him out. The Grand Prix was totaled, with part of the passenger side completely destroyed.
Jermaine Anderson, who lives at the Casa Bella Apartments nearby, was walking in the complex’s parking lot when he heard a car speeding northeast on Peavy.
“I heard it going real, real fast, and I heard the sirens,” Mr. Anderson said. “He was still trying to outrun the cops.”
He said he saw the suspect’s car attempt to make the U-turn, then smash into the police car.
“It was pretty bad; it was real loud,” he said of the collision. “I saw the car spin like a doughnut, and he lost control … it looked like something you’d see on ‘COPS.’”
Dozens of Dallas police officers, sheriff’s personnel and constables rushed to the scene along with fire personnel, and a crowd quickly gathered around the perimeter of the police line set up around the wreckage.
WFAA-TV aerial video from the scene
Don Wall and Brad Watson report
WFAA-TV contributed to this report.
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