UPDATE: 2 die in crash after driver flees police traffic stop, Warner Robins cops say
Two people in Houston County were killed early Friday in an SUV that crashed after its driver reportedly failed to pull over for a traffic stop on Russell Parkway, Warner Robins police said.
The crash happened at 12:51 a.m. in the 1200 block of Russell, less than a mile west of Kimberly Road, not far from where police said an officer tried to stop a 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee for not maintaining its lane near Tallulah Trail.
The reportedly “fled at a high rate of speed” before crashing, a statement from city police noted.
It was unclear from the statement whether the officer chased the Jeep.
The Georgia State Patrol, which was called in to investigate the wreck, said in a statement Friday afternoon that the Jeep, driven by Fredrick Faulkner veered across Russell’s eastbound lanes, off the south side of the road and struck a utility pole on its right side before rolling over.
Faulkner, 48, of Warner Robins, and a passenger, Mercedes Chikas, 28, of Byron, were killed, the state patrol said.
