State troopers said the driver who ran a red light, causing a deadly in Elyria Thursday, was fleeing police at the time.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the crash occurred around 3:22 p.m. on State Route 57 at Griswold Road.
Troopers said a Nissan Altima was heading north on SR-57, failed to stop at a red light and collided with a Toyota Corolla that was turning east onto Griswold Road.
The Altima's driver, a 40-year-old man from Amherst, was flown to Cleveland with life-threatening injuries. His current condition is unknown. The Altima's two passengers, Tanner Smith, 36, of Cleveland and Meghan Incorvaia, 36, of Wakeman, died at the scene, troopers said. No one in the Altima was wearing a seatbelt when the crash happened.
The Corolla's driver, a 48-year-old man from Lorain, was transported to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.
"The driver of the Corolla was an innocent victim in this scenario," said Sgt. Bridget Matt of the Ohio State Highway Patrol. "He was just going about his business traveling southbound on Route 57 and unfortunately at that time, the Nissan Altima had gone through the red traffic light at a high rate of speed and struck his vehicle."
It's not clear where or for what reason Elyria police tried stopping the driver of the Nissan.
Neither Elyria police nor the city's mayor have responded to multiple attempts to get that information Friday.
However, on dispatch recordings, a police officer radioed that he "observed a hand-to-hand transaction" as he followed the car, which he estimated was doing 60 MPH on Route 57 as it approached Midway Boulevard.
On the recordings, the officer said the car ran a red light at that intersection, then crashed seconds later a block away.
"Send an ambulance," said the officer. "We have a wreck at Griswold Road."
Court records show the driver of the Nissan has several convictions, including drug charges and failure to comply with police.
It also shows the 40-year-old had at least two warrants for his arrest at the time of Thursday's crash.
No charges have been filed.
