Innocent man killed in crash with 16-year-old runaway after Clear Lake-area police chase
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A 16-year-old girl, who Houston police say stole her mother's car, led officers on a chase and then crashed into another car overnight, killing an innocent man.
The crash happened on El Dorado Boulevard at Highway 3 around 3 a.m. Thursday.
Investigators on the scene say they made a conscious decision to back off from chasing the teenage driver, hoping that she would pull the car over and stop. Sadly, that did not happen.
The teen driver rear-ended another car, pushing it off of the road into a tree. The female driver of that car was taken to the hospital and unfortunately, her male passenger died.
Video from the scene shows the vehicle the teen was driving, a red SUV, badly damaged. Investigators say the 16-year-old was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
The chase started about six miles north on Highway 3 when the teen's mother called police, saying her daughter had stolen the family vehicle and was running away from home.
The chase initially involved several agencies, and police were able to track down the car and had a helicopter and police units on the ground in pursuit.
HPD says the teenage girl was driving incredibly fast, and was turning her headlights on and off.
"We're asking for everybody's prayers. It's a horrible incident. Our vehicular crime division is here. Our reconstruction team is here. They're going to do a good investigation," HPD Lt. R. Willkens said. "She was going at such a high rate of speed that when she hit the vehicle, there was a lot of damage. She hit them going very fast."
All lanes of Highway 3 were closed in both directions at El Dorado. One eastbound lane of El Dorado was also closed.
El Camino Real is the best alternate route to avoid the area.
Investigators are on the scene trying to reconstruct the accident and look for more evidence.
