Four individuals were killed in a fiery crash near Dallas early Thursday morning after the driver of the vehicle, being pursued by Irving police, lost control and drove off an exit ramp.
A high-speed police chase that began in the 3200 block of North Beltline Road in Irving ended with a serious accident and the deaths of four people near I-35 and Woodall Rodgers Freeway.
The incident occurred in the early hours of February 1 and affected morning traffic in the Downtown Dallas area due to the southbound I-35E Woodall Rodgers exit ramp, the northbound Continental Avenue exit ramp, and the northbound Woodall Rodgers exit ramp being temporarily closed.
Irving police said that the chase had begun at around 2 a.m. Its officers spotted a vehicle that had been reported stolen and began pursuing it when the driver allegedly failed to comply with a traffic stop, according to The Dallas Morning News. The officers did not know how many occupants were inside the car as they followed the suspect toward Dallas.
The suspect ultimately lost control of the vehicle and drove off the I-35E Woodall Rodgers ramp while traveling southbound on I-35 at high speeds. The identities of those killed in the car wreck have not been made public yet.
A second crash related to the police pursuit involved a Dallas County sheriff’s deputy, who suffered a minor injury after running into a light pole and then a concrete wall.
The fatal police chase is still under investigation, but the incident comes amid growing scrutiny surrounding law enforcement pursuit policies. A report from the think tank Police Executive Research Forum recently advised law enforcement to review their police pursuit policies amid a growing number having fatal ends across the country.
In Dallas, motor vehicle theft was the most prevalent crime reported within city limits in 2023, skyrocketing to 18,841 for a 40.5% rise compared to the year prior, according to the City’s crime analytics dashboard. This year has already been outpacing these figures, especially in Sector 130, which comprises Historic Downtown and Victory Park. In the month of January, a year-over-year jump of 43.1% was logged.
Comparative studies between Fort Worth’s city center and Downtown Dallas have shown that crime is seven times more likely to occur in the latter. The former has a specialized neighborhood police unit working alongside private security guards to patrol its downtown area.
The Dallas Police Department has struggled against auto theft and other types of crime. It fields just 3,000 officers even though a City report recommended a force of 4,000 to ensure public safety. Moreover, DPD will dispose of just $654 million this fiscal year after being budgeted significantly less by City officials than their counterparts in other high-crime municipalities, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.