Big wreck brings police chase to abrupt end

What might be the world's shortest police chase ended tragically early Wednesday when a couple of suspects crashed an allegedly stolen van, killing one of them and critically injuring the other. It started around 3 a.m. Wednesday when someone in an apartment complex in the 5800 block of Fondren reported that a Dodge Caravan was being stolen; a police patrolman spotted the van leaving the complex and tried to pull the driver over — but instead of pulling over, the driver sped up. "The second that driver spotted the officer is when the pursuit started," HPD spokesman Officer Gabe Ortiz told the Chronicle.

The chase didn't last too long: The van turned north on Fondren and ran red lights at Harwin, Westpark Tollway and Westpark, reportedly reaching 90 mph before crashing into the side of a garbage truck that was crossing Fondren at Pagewood, nearly three-quarters of a mile from where the chase began. "The chase lasted about a minute," Ortiz said.

KPRC reports that the driver of the van was killed in the impact, while the passenger was transported to Ben Taub in critical condition. The driver of the garbage truck was shaken up, but wasn't injured; the crash ruptured the truck's gas tank, but HPD cleaned up the spill, Ortiz said.