Police were within designated jurisdiction to pursue the uncooperative driver in a chase that ended fatally, said Franklin Township Chief of Police Mike Castle.
A Franklin Township police officer stopped three men in the early morning of May 11 on Georgesville Road north of Sullivant Avenue after observing erratic behavior and no headlights.
The driver was uncooperative, said Castle, and drove away after throwing his driver’s license out the window at him.
“This follows the parameters for a chase,” said Castle.
“It’s a borderline thing, but the officers did pull him over once and were just trying to catch up to him again.”
According to Castle, the chase lasted less than 30 seconds and spanned less than a mile.
Police pursued the vehicle until the driver lost control and crashed into a tree in front of 801 Phillipi Rd. north of Fisher Road around 3:40 a.m.
Alcohol is now suspected as a factor in the crash, said Sgt. Carl Hickey of the Franklin County sherriff’s office.
The driver and the back-seat passenger were pronounced dead at the scene. The front-seat passenger was taken to The Ohio State University Medical Center in critical condition.
No further update had been released as of May 13.
According to Hickey, all three men were or are illegal aliens from Mexico and are still unidentified.
“It’s become a very long, drawn-out process because they were in the country illegally and have no relatives here,” said Hickey.
The two men killed were brothers and the injured passenger was a co-worker.
