Fatal crash in Indianapolis follows police pursuit from Henry County

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A man died in a crash at an Indianapolis intersection that followed a police pursuit that began in Henry County on Monday night, Indiana State Police say.

The man’s identity was not immediately shared publicly, but he was one of four people in a maroon sedan that was left in a crumpled heap after it crashed with two other cars just before 9:40 p.m. Monday at the intersection of East Washington Street and Mitthoefer Road. That’s an area with many restaurants, retailers and other businesses on the city’s far east side.

Sgt. John Perrine of Indiana State Police, in an impromptu news conference early Tuesday morning at the crash scene, said the pursuit that began in Henry County involved Sheriff John Sproles. The pursuit began after authorities attempted a traffic stop. The reason for the traffic stop was not shared in the news conference.

The Henry County seat, New Castle, is usually about a 50-minute drive westward to the Indianapolis intersection.

State police joined the pursuit when it moved from county roads onto I-70. State police called off the pursuit sometime after the sedan exited I-70 at Post Road.

Yet the sedan continued on Indianapolis city streets until the crash.

The other three people in the sedan were taken to a hospital, but their conditions were not immediately shared publicly.

The people in the other two cars in the crash received minor injuries.

The body of the man who died was lying in the street for about three hours until a coroner arrived at the scene, and family members while waiting confronted the police about the situation.

Investigators found weapons scattered across the intersection after the crash.

IMPD said in a news release issued about 10:15 p.m. Monday that East Washington Street in the area “will be closed in all directions for several hours.”