Suspected carjackers die after crashing stolen truck during police chase

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Two suspected carjackers are dead after short police chase ended in a crash. It happened around 11:00pm Wednesday on Beechnut and Eldridge in southwest Houston.

An HPD officer spotted a Nissan Titan pickup truck traveling without its headlights on. The officer flashed his headlights at the truck to alert the driver to turn on his lights. When the driver kept going with the lights turned off, the officer then tried to conduct a traffic stop.

That's when the driver of the truck took off at a high rate of speed. The officer followed, but just about a minute later, the driver of the pickup truck lost control. The truck went off the road and crashed into a large sign for an apartment building.

"The vehicle lost control, slid sideways where it left the roadway on the right side, where it struck a large brick sign for an apartment complex," said Sgt. S. Wolverton with the Harris County Sheriff's Office.

The driver was killed instantly. The passenger was ejected and then crushed to death by debris from the sign.

A pistol and a sawed-off shotgun were found inside the vehicle. Police say the pickup had been taken during a carjacking just a short time before the chase began. Officers believe the two men may be responsible for other carjackings in the area.

Houston Police Chief Charles McClelland said he has noticed the ages of robbery suspects skewing younger recently.

"The suspects seem to be much, much younger, 17,18, people who are not in school. People who have dropped out of school. People who are not working," he said.