HOUSTON — A police chase ended in a deadly crash along Beltway 8 in west Houston early Wednesday morning, according to the Houston Police Department.
The chase ended just before 3 a.m. near the Bellaire Boulevard exit heading south on the Beltway.
HPD Assist. Chief Yasar Bashir said it is still early in their investigation. The chase started just after midnight when a concerned citizen driving on Westheimer Road called the police after he said he spotted what he thought was an impaired driver.
Police tracked down the alleged impaired driver a few minutes later near Beltway 8 and Briarforest, Bashir said. The officers tried to safely pull over the driver, but they refused to stop and sped up.
The chase continued north on Beltway 8 all the way to Little York where the driver then made a U-turn and began heading south on the Beltway, police said. At that point, a helicopter with the Texas Department of Public Safety joined the chase.
Police then pulled back a little to create a safe distance between them and the driver, Bashir said. However, when the driver took the Bellaire exit, he lost control of his SUV and rolled over several times.
“He lost control of the vehicle, and he flipped over,” Bashir said. “Thank God he didn't he didn't hit anybody else.”
The passenger was ejected from the SUV and was pronounced dead at the scene. The driver was taken to the hospital in critical condition but is expected to survive.
“So as I stated earlier, we have two different investigations going on. We have one here at the scene. We are collecting evidence and a crash unit are out here and at the hospital, we have our DWI,” Bashir said. “Investigators determined the impairment of the driver as well.”
Bashir added that the suspect vehicle was heading down the Beltway at a high rate of speed before the crash. They also found beer cans inside the vehicle.
The Harris County District Attorney’s Office will be conducting its own investigation into the crash as well.
Bashir said the driver is a man in his 30s. He is expected to be charged with felony murder.