EAST CLEVELAND — A man died late Tuesday night after the driver of the vehicle they were riding in fled from police in East Cleveland and then crashed a short time later.
According to the East Cleveland Police Department, an officer near Hayden and Shaw avenues spotted the vehicle driving recklessly around 11:34 p.m. when it failed to stop at a "traffic control device," and kept going.
The officer turned on his lights and sirens and stopped the vehicle near Hayden and Alder avenues, police said. When the officer opened his door to get out, the vehicle sped off.
The officer chased the vehicle for about three minutes but called off the chase when speeds reached nearly 50 mph, which the officer determined was too fast for the road conditions, police said. The vehicle continued speeding away and then crashed near East 133rd Street and Fourth Avenue.
Police said the passenger was pinned underneath the vehicle when the crash occurred. East Cleveland EMS arrived a short time later and took the driver and the passenger to a nearby hospital, where the man was pronounced dead around 12:16 a.m. The driver's condition is unknown.
East Cleveland Police are asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash to contact the East Cleveland Detective Bureau at 216-681-2162 or the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Office at 216-443-6085.
The sheriff's office is handling the investigation.
