NEW GARDEN TWP., Pa. (WPVI) — A police chase that began as a traffic stop ended in tragedy early Friday when a car crashed in Chester County, killing three people inside, authorities said.
Pennsylvania state police said troopers from the Avondale station attempted to stop the vehicle around 1:30 a.m. after witnessing the driver commit multiple traffic violations near East 3rd Street and Garner Drive.
The driver refused to stop, police say, and troopers began a pursuit. Soon after, the car crashed along Route 41 in New Garden Township.
The vehicle came to rest against a tree, leaving the bark stripped and the car mangled. No troopers were injured.
Several neighbors say they heard the chase moments before the crash. Carl Coleman said he witnessed the pursuit as it came through his neighborhood.
“Basically, I was on my porch, and seen the cops chasing this car, high rate of speed coming up through here, so I ran outside on my back porch. I live right here and I seen everything,” he said. ” I was totally in shock, just started recording.”
Coleman said the noise pulled him out of bed.
“I was getting ready to go to bed, and I heard all this screeching noise, and I heard the loud sirens, and I ran outside and I seen a police chase and I just start recording on my phone.”
Coleman added that he hopes others learn from what happened.
“I advise anybody if the police is behind you, just pull over. It’s not worth it.”
He said the chase was especially jarring because the area is usually calm.
“It’s Avondale. It’s very quiet, it’s not that big, it’s really small, and like you typically don’t see none of this around here. It is really quiet.”
Other residents echoed similar concerns about the violence of the crash.
“That’s terrible. It’s horrible. Something that could have been avoided,” said Annie Taylor of New Garden Township.
Residents said the crash has shaken the community.
“We don’t typically have this type of thing happen around here,” said Cynthia Destafney of St. Rocco Parish.
Taylor said she empathized with the trooper who initiated the stop.
“Imagine seeing, you know, there’s people wrapped around that tree in their car. It’s gotta be, you know, hurtful for him too,” she said.
Destafney said her parish is waiting to learn the victims’ identities.
“Just wondering who these people are. This is a fairly large Hispanic community, so we’re just kind of sitting back waiting to see if hopefully it’s not somebody that we know, just waiting to see if there’s any way that we can help families if they need,” she said.
Investigators are working to identify the victims and notify their families.
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