DOUGAS COUNTY —It was supposed to be a traffic stop, but the driver didn’t – and ended up crashing into five parked cars and narrowly escaping serious injury of his own and that of his passenger, according to a social media report from police in Lawrence.
Just after 1:30a.m. Jan. 21, a patrol officer noticed a car run through a red light at a high rate of speed at 11th and Tennessee in Lawrence. The officer activated his lights, but the driver didn’t stop. The car continued south on Tennessee at more than 50 miles per hour until he wasn’t able to navigate the lanes and swiped through five parked cars.
He crashed near 19th Street, got out, and ran. Officers caught up with him between nearby houses. His passenger was trapped in the wreckage. Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical responded to get the passenger out of the crumpled metal. Both the driver and the passenger refused further medical treatment.
The 22-year-old driver, whose name was not released, was booked into the Douglas County Correctional Facility suspected of several crimes including Possession of Drugs, Possession of a Firearm under the Influence, Driving Under the Influence, Flee and Elude, and additional traffic violations.