BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — Two people are dead after a stolen vehicle crashed into a tree during a chase in the city of Lockport on Saturday afternoon, police said.
Police said the two occupants of the stolen car were pronounced dead at the scene by firefighters. No other injuries were reported. The names of the occupants “are not being released at this time,” police said.
Niagara County Sheriff Michael J. Filicetti said a stolen vehicle “failed to yield from the town of Lockport into the city of Lockport” and was being pursued by a sheriff’s office vehicle. Filicetti told News 4 the car that crashed was stolen from Rochester.
Sheriff patrol officers were alerted of the stolen car through a license plate reader just before 2 p.m. and followed the car to a gas station on Chestnut Ridge Road in the town of Lockport. Officers attempted to give verbal commands for the occupants to exit the vehicle before the car sped westbound toward the city.
A sheriff’s deputy gave chase and the vehicle continued to speed through intersections, including through red lights, Filicetti said. The deputy continued to follow the vehicle at a reduced speed for visual observation.