(MOBILE, Ala) Mar. 21 -
David Tharp was just driving to the store, when a high speed police chase went by. "I heard the siren and I looked up and the white Cadillac was coming," he says.Just minutes before he saw it pass, a Mobile Police Officer had noticed a car near Dauphin Street and Upham Street, traveling with its headlights off. When the officer tried to stop the car, the driver sped off. The officer followed and during the chase the suspect lost control of his car.
Tharp says he saw the Cadillac swerve and then he heard an explosion.
Police say the car went airborne near Old Shell Road and Cooley Street. It struck a tree and a light pole, then caught fire.
"We drove past the road," says Paige Wade, who lives nearby, "and that's when we saw the flames." She says she also saw a transformer on the ground. The crash took the power out for blocks.
Two men died in the crash, the driver Eric Manuel, and a passenger, Wykyim Jowers. The impact threw a second passenger from the car. He was taken to USA Medical Center with serious injuries.
Police continue to investigate.
