Car theft suspect dies fleeing police

When the suspect saw flashing lights, he floored it into oncoming traffic.

​Early this morning, Minneapolis Police tried to pull over a Honda Civic for an "equipment violation."

That potentially minor crime turned into a major one when the driver instead took off, driving into oncoming traffic to get away from the cops. That major crime turned into a deadly mistake when the driver slammed into a pole at 31st Street and Chicago Avenue South.

Cops caught up to the accident and pulled the driver from the car. The officers tried to give CPR to the unconscious driver, and EMS arrived soon and took the man to Hennepin County Medical Center. Not long after his arrival at the emergency room, the man was declared dead from his crash injuries.

Cops later realized the reason why the man wasn't so keen on getting pulled over: With a bit more investigating, they realized that the car didn't belong to the driver, but had in fact been stolen overnight from outside a southwest Minneapolis home.

The true owner did not even know the car had been missing when contacted by police about last night's incident.

No other people were injured in the crash, and there was no additional damage to property aside from that to the car and the pole.

The identity of the driver has not yet been released.