A Lawrence driver was killed and a passenger seriously injured early this morning in Amesbury after fleeing Merrimac police along route 110 and striking a utility pole.
The front-seated passenger was partially ejected from a 2003 Honda Civic and taken to an area hospital with serious injuries. A second passenger, a 17-year-old Lawrence man, fled the accident on foot. He was discovered by an Amesbury police K-9 unit and taken to an area hospital with non-life threatening injuries, police said. None of the occupants were identified.
The incident unfolded after a Merrimac police officer patrolling route 110, near Wallace Way, at 12:11 a.m., noticed a license plate light was out on the car. When the officer turned on his blue lights, the driver sped away, and the officer lost sight of the vehicle, according to Merrimac Police Chief Eric M. Shears.
Amesbury Police were notified as the vehicle was headed into that city. About two minutes later, the Merrimac officer saw skid marks and discovered the vehicle ran off the road and crashed into a utility pole. The offer immediately called for emergency medical services, according to police.
Police determined that the license plates on the vehicle were stolen.
Merrimac, Amesbury and Massachusetts State Police and the Essex County District Attorney’s Office are investigating with assistance from the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section.
Sadly, some people will blame the cop for this crash, saying he never should have chased him !