Jan. 26--A driver fleeing police was killed when his SUV collided with a car in the Gresham neighborhood on the South Side, injuring a woman and a toddler in the car, police said.
Officers saw the SUV speeding and pulled it over in the 6700 block of South Ashland Avenue about 10:30 p.m., according to Officer Hector Alfaro, a police spokesman.
The three men in the SUV were asked to get out for questioning, police said. As the officers talked to them, one of men got back into the SUV and fled, police said.
The driver, a 38-year-old man, ran a red light at Ashland Avenue and 76th Street and crashed into a sedan traveling west on 76th, police said. The SUV then struck a fire hydrant and a light pole on the block before coming to rest, police said.
The driver was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was later pronounced dead, Alfaro said.
A 45-year-old woman and 18-month-old in the sedan were taken to Holy Cross Hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening, Alfaro said.
Police said the two men who were stopped by officers with the 38-year-old man were not taken into custody after the pursuit and crash.
Early Monday, police had the 7600 block of South Ashland taped off for investigators. The mangled SUV sat about halfway down the block and debris from both cars littered the street.
CTA buses were rerouted around the crash site until about 4:20 a.m., according to a CTA alert.
