WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — A police chase in Warren ended in a multi-vehicle crash at the intersection of Mound and 8 Mile Thursday morning.
See chopper video from the aftermath of the crash below
It happened just before noon. Warren police said an officer tried to stop a Cadillac sedan near I-696 and Dequindre for driving with an improper/invalid license plate.
The license plate reads “BEST DAD.”
Investigators said the 33-year-old driver refused to stop, sped away, and blew the light at 8 Mile and Mound. That led to a collision with two other vehicles.
Despite his vanity plate, investigators said the man's 12-year-old daughter was in the car with him.
"It could’ve been anyone. First thing I thought of was my husband," Regina Turner said of the innocent drivers.
“That’s the first thing you think of... your loved ones... when you see accidents like this in this magnitude," she told 7 News Detroit.
Turner lives right around the corner from the intersection. Before learning of the accident, she said she noticed a higher volume of traffic on her street.
Traffic had been re-routed for several hours.
Investigators said the driver of the Cadillac was taken into custody at the scene.
The patrol vehicle also ended up crashing on Mound by itself. We’re told the officer, who’s been on the force for 3.5 years, is in serious but stable condition, and his injuries aren't life-threatening.
Pete Gojcaj, manager of Nicky D’s, recalled, “The waitress said, ‘Oh my God, looked what happened.' And we just looked, and it was a big old accident up and down the street.”
He and his staff are seeing the effects of the crash firsthand. The business sits on the northwest corner of the intersection. Officers spent several hours re-routing 8 Mile's westbound traffic onto northbound Mound. The southbound side remained closed for much of the afternoon.
Gojcaj said, “We’re getting call-in orders, but nobody’s able to come pick ‘em up.”
Warren police said, fortunately, people in the other vehicles did not need medical attention. The 12-year-old in the Cadillac was taken to the hospital with minor injuries.
