VIRGINIA — Two people are dead and two others are injured following a high-speed police pursuit that ended in a fiery crash in Petersburg early Saturday morning, authorities said.
According to the Colonial Heights Police Department, the incident began around 1:20 a.m. when an officer monitoring traffic in the 100 block of the Boulevard clocked a 2021 Tesla traveling 70 miles per hour in a 30 mph zone. When the officer attempted to pull the vehicle over, the driver did not stop and continued south into Petersburg along South Adams Street.
Less than a mile from where the speeding was first observed, the Tesla lost control and struck a tree in the 20 block of Marshall Street. The vehicle caught fire, and flames spread to a nearby home.
The Petersburg Fire Department responded and extinguished both fires. Two occupants of the Tesla were pronounced dead at the scene. Two others were detained and transported to local hospitals for treatment. Their conditions were not immediately released.
No residents of the affected home were injured.
The Virginia State Police Crash Reconstruction Team is investigating. Authorities have not released the names of those involved.
