What to Know
- A Lexus driver died after crashing into a phone pole and a concrete porch amid a police chase in New York's Orange County early Thursday
- Police say an officer saw him commit a vehicle infraction and tried to pull him over, but he accelerated and led the cop on a winding chase
- The man's name has not been released
A 35-year-old man who fled a traffic stop in New York's Orange County apparently lost control of his speeding Lexus after a winding police pursuit, smashed into a telephone pole and concrete porch and died, authorities say.
An officer in Middletown spotted the driver commit some sort of traffic infraction in the city shortly before 1 a.m. Thursday and turned around his marked patrol car to pull the driver over. Authorities say the driver accelerated, speeding along nearly a half-dozen streets and refusing to pull over though the cop's lights were flashing.
The driver, who has not been identified, apparently lost control of the vehicle as he passed through the intersection of Academy Avenue and Sterling Street. Police say the Lexus veered off the road, hit a telephone pole and then smashed into a concrete porch. The Middletown cop followed the trail of destruction to the crash site, and found the driver unresponsive and trapped in the vehicle.
He was pronounced dead at the scene. Cops say he did not appear to be wearing a seat belt. No one else was hurt.
No one was in the home connected to the porch at the time, authorities say, but the structure itself sustained heavy damage.
