Chicago, IL : Girl, 13, killed when police chase ends in Hammond crash on Wednesday, February 15th 2017

A 13-year-old girl was killed and her grandmother critically injured when an SUV being chased by police in northwest Indiana slammed into their vehicle Wednesday afternoon, authorities said.

About 5 p.m., officers from East Chicago, Indiana, chased a Dodge Durango into neighboring Hammond, where Hammond officers joined the pursuit, according to Indiana State Police.
The Durango was going east on Gostlin Street when it crashed into the driver’s side of a Chevrolet Equinox, which was being driven north at the intersection of Columbia Avenue with the green light, state police said. The force of the collision sent the Equinox through a fence and into a grassy area off the side of the road.

A 13-year-old passenger in the Equinox, Julianna Chambers, suffered blunt force trauma was taken to Franciscan Health in Hammond, where she was pronounced dead at 6:02 p.m., police and the Lake County coroner’s office said.

Her 57-year-old grandmother, who was at the wheel, was taken in critical condition by helicopter to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn. Both are from Whiting, Indiana.

The 31-year-old Highland man driving the Durango was arrested by East Chicago police. His passenger, a 27-year-old woman from Danville in downstate Illinois, was taken to Northlake Methodist Hospital in Gary with minor injuries.

“The Hammond Police Department would like to extend our condolences to the family of Julianna Chambers, who lost her life in a traffic incident on 02-15-17,” a statement from Hammond Police Chief John Doughty said.

Charges were pending as of Thursday morning, police said.

State police didn’t say what prompted the police chase. Officials with the East Chicago police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Source :
Girl, 13, killed when police chase ends in Hammond crash