2 dead after police chase linked to hit-and-run ends in crash, Carrboro police say
Carrboro Police Department said an earlier hit-and-run in Chapel Hill triggered a police chase into Carrboro.
CARRBORO, N.C. (WTVD) -- Two people are dead after a police chase ended in a crash Monday night in Carrboro, police said.
According to Carrboro Police Chief Chris Atack, a 911 caller reported a hit-and-run crash in Chapel Hill just before 5 p.m. Chapel Hill police found the car that fled the scene and tried to stop it inside Carrboro's jurisdiction. The car -- driven by Lawrence Richard Edwards, 43, of Chapel Hill, -- continued to flee and crashed shortly after at Oak Avenue and East Poplar Avenue.
Edwards and the passenger, who was identified as Jonathan Lynn Blancett, 43, of Durham, both died in the crash.
No additional injuries were reported, authorities said.
Speed was a contributing factor in the crash and neither occupant was wearing a seatbelt, Carrboro PD said. Toxicology results are pending.
Carrboro PD, Chapel Hill Police Department, and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol are investigating the incident.
