A 49-year-old woman died after her vehicle was struck by a Camaro going in excess of 100 mph early Wednesday, according to the Port Huron Police Department.
Wreckage was scattered throughout the area of 24th Street and Dove Road following the crash Wednesday morning. A piece of debris was thrown by the impact and broke a window at the Industrial Park Party Store at 24th and Dove.
"Debris everywhere; it was like a bomb went off," said Ken Kenaya, who owns the store.
Kenaya said officers showed him where a vehicle engine had ended up on some of his property a few hundred feet away.
"From where the impact was and where the cars ended up ... I'm telling you it was just like a bomb went off," he said.
Rescue crews responded to the scene shortly after 8 a.m.
According to the Port Huron Police Department, an officer was patrolling in the area of 22nd and Bancroft streets when he observed the white Camaro westbound on Bancroft at a high rate of speed.
The officer activated his overhead lights and siren as the suspect vehicle continued on Bancroft and then turned southbound onto 24th Street. As the officer turned onto 24th Street he notified central dispatch the vehicle was not stopping and traveling at speeds in excess of 100 mph, according to the police department.
It appears the Camaro ran a red light at Dove, hitting the 49-year-old woman's eastbound vehicle. A third vehicle in the intersection was also struck. The police department said the patrol vehicle was still some distance away when the collision happened.
Vehicles sit damaged following a crash at Dove and 24th streets in Port Huron Wednesday morning. (Photo: Brian M. Wells/Times Herald)
The victim's vehicle came to rest upside down near the eastern edge of 24th Street, beside the fleeing Camaro.
The driver of the Camaro, a 35-year-old Port Huron woman, and three male passengers were taken to local hospital with serious, life-threatening injuries.
The driver of the third vehicle was checked out at a local hospital with non-serious injuries.
The 49-year-old woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The area was closed to traffic while accident reconstruction experts from the Port Huron Police Department and the St. Clair County Sheriff Department collected evidence. Marysville officers also assisted at the scene.
"Yes, we had just initiated a traffic stop attempt and the vehicle fled," Port Huron Police Chief Jeff Baker said in an email earlier Wednesday. "The vehicle fled for the distance of about 1 mile before the collision occurred. At this time we have one deceased, and 4 injured."
Tri-Hospital EMS and Port Huron firefighters also responded to the scene, which required some patients to be extricated from their vehicles.
"This case is under investigation," Baker said in a press release. "The name of the victim will not be released until extended family has been fully notified. The Port Huron Police Department extends its sincere sympathy to the family of the victim of this unnecessary tragedy."
One person has died following a crash in Port Huron Wednesday morning. (Photo: Bob Gross/Times Herald)
The most recent data available by the U.S. Department of Transportation regarding fatalities in vehicle crashes involving police pursuit are from 2015. There were a total of 19 fatalities in the state, with 15 being in chased vehicles, two from other occupied vehicles and two non-occupant fatalities. Nationally, there were 370 total fatalities involved in police pursuits in 2015.
Debris is seen scattered at the scene of a fatal crash Wednesday morning in Port Huron. (Photo: Brian M. Wells/Times Herald)
