Four injured after Lawrence police chase leads to crash south of turnpike exit

photo by: Mike Yoder

A police chase ended in an injury crash near the intersection of Second Street and McDonald Drive shortly after 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 20, 2016.

Four people were injured Wednesday afternoon after a vehicle fleeing from Lawrence police collided with another car south of the Kansas Turnpike exit on McDonald Drive.

The incident began around 4 p.m. Wednesday after turnpike authorities alerted Lawrence police to a stolen tag that had been spotted near the city, Lawrence Police Sgt. Amy Rhoads said.

A Lawrence officer spotted the tag on a white van near the turnpike exit and attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the van took off, Rhoads said. As the van was fleeing on Second Street, it collided with a white, four-door car at the intersection of McDonald Drive, Rhoads said. The van rolled, came to a stop upright, and the driver tried to run on foot but was caught, Rhoads said.

The driver and two other passengers in the van were injured, along with one of the two people in the four-door car, Rhoads said. The extent of the injuries was not immediately known.

One person from the van was taken to an area hospital by a medical helicopter, while the other three were taken to hospitals by ground ambulance, Rhoads said.

The traffic light at the intersection of Second Street and McDonald Drive was not functioning, Lawrence police said, and significant delays were experienced in the area as commuters exited Interstate 70 from Kansas Turnpike Plaza 202.

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