GARLAND, Texas — Two people were killed in a high-speed chase involving a stolen vehicle and a Rockwall County sheriff's deputy early Thursday, officials said.
The two people who died were in a Dodge Charger that was fleeing the deputy, who was not injured.
The chase began shortly after midnight along the Interstate 30 service road in Rockwall County, where a deputy saw three vehicles pulled over with their headlights off.
Another deputy was able to locate the vehicles and noticed them "commit several traffic violations," according to a news release from the sheriff's office. The deputy turned his lights on, but the vehicles went in different directions. The deputy decided to chase one of the vehicles, a black Dodge Charger, which was heading north on Texas 205.
The Charger later turned west on Texas 78 and went through Wylie and Sachse. When it tried to enter the President George Bush Turnpike, it struck a concrete barrier and crashed.
A man and a woman inside the car died as a result of the crash, officials said. The man was identified as 28-year-old Willie Lee Rankin III.
Investigators later learned that three vehicles initially involved in the incident were all stolen: The Charger was out of Lewisville, a Chevrolet Silverado was out of Rockwall and a Chevrolet Camaro was still missing.
Garland police responded to the crash but they weren't involved in the chase. Their officials said the Charger shot off the ramp of the highway and caught fire. One of the people in the car died at the scene and the other later died at a hospital.
The names of the woman killed in the crash has not yet been released.
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