Fatal crash in Lexington neighborhood occurred after driver fled officer, police say

A man who fled police Wednesday afternoon died in a three-vehicle crash in a Lexington neighborhood just minutes later, according to investigators.

The crash involving a passenger car, SUV and a pickup truck occurred at the intersection of Eastland Parkway and Gayle Drive.

Michael D. Mason, 46, died at the scene of the crash, according to the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.

Mason had been spotted by police just two minutes before the crash, Sgt. Donnell Gordon said. At 1:19 p.m., an officer on the inner loop of New Circle Road said he saw a driver who appeared to be passed out while stopped on the outer loop of New Circle Road.

The officer turned onto the outer loop to try to get to the driver, Gordon said. When the officer got behind the car, the driver fled.

The officer who stopped for Mason didn’t chase him, Gordon said. The officer described the car to dispatchers and told them the driver was turning onto Eastland Parkway.

Two minutes later, Mason was on Gayle Drive and ran the stop sign at the Eastland Parkway intersection, Gordon said. The SUV and the truck were traveling on Eastland Parkway, and both hit the car.

When the crash call came in, the officer suspected the same driver was involved. The officer responded and confirmed that it was the same person.

The driver of the SUV suffered “serious” injuries and was taken to a hospital, Gordon said. The driver of the truck suffered minor injuries.

A collision reconstruction unit from the police department was investigating the crash.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to understand why the person was fleeing,” Gordon said. “At this point in time, it’s just way too early to determine.”

Police kept the road closed for hours after the crash, trying to assess how it happened as they stepped through debris and wreckage from the vehicles.

The fatal crash was one of several in Lexington over the past few weeks. Others have included a wrong-way crash on I-75 that killed six people, a wrong-way crash on New Circle Road and multiple crashes that killed pedestrians.

“There’s just a lot all at once right now,” Gordon said. “We just hate that there’s families that have to go through this. It’s very hard.”

A few residents near Wednesday’s crash scene said they frequently see people “fly” through the area on Eastland. Police said they weren’t sure how fast any of the drivers were going, but they’d determine that through investigation.