Passenger in vehicle fleeing from Lawrence Police dies after driver loses control

LAWRENCE — Lawrence Police say one person is dead and another is in critical condition after a pursuit early Saturday morning.

An officer in a fully marked police vehicle saw someone in a black truck throwing items at a silver car in the area of 8600 Pendleton Pike around 3 a.m.

Police said the vehicles "[were] being operated in an aggressive manner towards each other." The officer followed both vehicles before only following the silver vehicle because the black truck remained stopped at a red light.

Police say the silver vehicle changed lanes multiple times before abruptly stopping sideways in front of a black vehicle. The officer then saw a passenger open the door in an aggressive manner before beginning to exit.

"The officer, believing he was witnessing a potential carjacking or other felony crime in progress, activated his emergency lights, where upon observing the officer, the passenger door of the silver vehicle shut and the vehicle sped away, east bound in the 9100 block of 42^nd St," a news release from Lawrence Police read.

After driving over a railroad track overpass in the 4200 block of Shadeland Avenue, police say the driver of the silver vehicle lost control and crashed. The driver was trapped and the passenger was ejected.

The passenger was pronounced dead at the scene and the driver was taken to the hospital in critical condition.

Police say the investigation by the Lawrence Police Fatal Crash Investigation Team is ongoing.