ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — A multi-agency police pursuit ended in a crash that left one man dead early Sunday morning in St. Joseph.
Around 2 a.m. officials say Benton Township police officers saw a vehicle traveling southbound on M-139 near Napier Avenue at a very high speed and swerving into the path of a Benton Township patrol car.
According to police, officers tried to stop the car but it fled westbound on I-94. The officers pursuing the car then lost sight of it in Lincoln Township.
A deputy from the Berrien County Sheriff's Office in a fully marked patrol car tried to stop the suspect vehicle while it was traveling northbound on Lakeshore Drive near Shoreham Drive in St. Joseph Township by activating emergency lights and sirens.
Officials say the suspect vehicle just increased speed and fled again from police.
The pursuit of the suspect's car continued northbound on Lakeshore Drive into the City of St. Joseph, police say.
Around 2:10 a.m., officials say the suspect lost control of the vehicle and drove off the road, crashing on Lakeshore Drive just north of Hilltop Road. In the crash, the driver was thrown from the vehicle and died.
The driver was a 34-year-old man from Benton Harbor whose identity is not being released at this time.
The incident is currently under investigation by the Michigan State Police Niles Post and the Michigan State Police Traffic Reconstruction Unit.
Any information found in the investigation will be forwarded to the Berrien County prosecutor for review.
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