A teenager is dead after a police chase from Rowlett to Rockwall ended in a fiery crash early Friday morning, police say.
According to the Rowlett Police Department, an officer saw a white Ford F250 traveling eastbound on Interstate 30 shortly after 1 a.m. with its taillights off and high-beam headlights flashing on and off.
The officer believed that the vehicle was displaying a theft alarm and attempted to stop the driver, police said.
According to Rowlett police, the driver did not stop and continued east into Rockwall.
Police said the vehicle left the roadway in the 3100 block of Ridge Road, crashed through a fence, and landed in the back yard of a residence in the Chandler's Landing community before becoming engulfed in flames.
The Rockwall Fire Department used multiple fire extinguishers to control the blaze, police said.
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According to Rowlett police, the passenger inside the vehicle, a 16-year-old female, was able to escape the crash while the driver, also a 16-year-old female, was killed after becoming trapped inside the burning truck.
Because they are juveniles, the identity of the driver and passenger are not expected to be released.
During the investigation into the incident, officers learned that the truck had been stolen earlier in the night from a residence in Rowlett, police said. According to police, the registered owner of the Ford F250 reported his vehicle stolen to Rowlett Police Department.
Joaquin Castillo found out his truck was missing in the middle of night.
“Rowlett Police Department showed up at 2:45 this morning and told me about. And they said did I lend my pickup out. I said no I didn’t,” said Castillo.
Castillo stepped outside and realized his truck had been stolen. From there, the news got even worse.
“He goes, ‘Sit down because there was a fatality. Somebody got killed,’” he said.
“The passenger had run away from the crash and had gone down like two or three housed and knocked on the door asked for help,” said Cruz Hernandez with Rowlett Police. “At that point Rockwall police were notified and spoke to the passenger, another 16-year-old girl from Rowlett, and she identified her friend as the driver.”
Castillo says he knew the girls from the neighborhood and spoke to them a couple of times. He’s sad that a young life ended this way.
Police said the investigation is ongoing.
