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One person was killed and five were injured when the driver of a stolen car smashed into a vacant storefront in Baltimore, which then collapsed on top of his car.
On Thursday, the Maryland Attorney General’s Office released video taken from traffic cameras that depict the fatal collision.
The chase began on February 8, when a police officer noticed a man driving in a Hyundai Sonata that had been reported stolen.
Police later identified the driver as Shawn Lee Brunson, 33.
The moment the stolen Hyundai collides with an orange sedan in an intersection (Picture: Maryland OAG Independent Investigations Division)
The officer attempted to pull Brunson over, but the car thief instead fled.
Before the fatal intersection collision, a dispatcher can be heard telling Officer Devin Yancy to ‘just let it go,’ but moments later they were too late.
The fleeing Hyundai driver careened into an intersection, where they collided with an orange sedan. The two cars then simultaneously crashed into the corner of a vacant storefront.
Both cars were completely crushed as brick and building material shower the vehicles.
Police officers try to dig the occupants out of the rubble (Picture: Maryland OAG Independent Investigations Division)
Police officers quickly surrounded the scene and jumped into action clearing the rubble, attempting to rescue the people trapped inside the cars.
At least one pedestrian was killed in the incident, 54-year-old Baltimore resident Alfred Fincher. The man was walking on the sidewalk when the two cars smashed into the storefront.
Five others were injured in the collision, including Brunson and a passenger in his stolen car.
Firefighters respond to the deadly crash in Baltimore (Picture: Daniel Belson/The Baltimore Sun via ZUMA Press Wire)
An attorney representing Fincher’s family criticized the officer’s decision to chase the driver. ‘The officer did not break off the pursuit, and Alfred Fincher is dead,’ Divya Potdar told the Baltimore Sun.
According to Baltimore Police Department policies officers are prohibited from entering a car chase with a vehicle if: ‘The initial violation is a crime against property (including auto theft), misdemeanor, a traffic offense without imminent danger, or is a non-violent warrant.’
Officer Yancy is a 4.5 year veteran of the force, the Department confirmed.
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The chase began when a police officer noticed a man driving in a Hyundai Sonata that had been reported stolen.
