Man killed and six injured in three-car crash during police chase

A driver who was being chased by police died after a crash involving two other cars.

The crash happened on Wickham Road, Croydon, just before 9pm on Friday, and six people in the two other vehicles were injured.

The 63-year-old man who died, who was driving the first car, was suspected of using cloned number plates on his car.

Metropolitan Police officers tried to stop the vehicle near South Norwood High Street, but gave chase after it failed to stop.

The crash happened about eight minutes later, when the first car crashed into two others.

The man was given CPR by officers but died at the scene. His next of kin has been told.

Six people were taken to hospital, the London Ambulance Service said, and one of those suffered a ‘potentially life-threatening injury’.

His two passengers, two 61-year-old men, were arrested on suspicion of being carried in a stolen vehicle. One of them was also arrested for possession of class A drugs.

A spokesperson for the Met told Metro: ‘Road closures were put in place while the incident was investigated, with buses on diversion. These closures have now been lifted.

‘The Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards was immediately informed and a referral made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) which is a required step whenever vehicles are involved in a collision involving death or serious injury following a police pursuit.

‘The IOPC will now carry out an independent investigation.’

A London Ambulance Service spokesperson said: ‘We were called at 8.47pm on April 18 to reports of a road traffic collision near the junction of Wickham Road and Shirley Road in Croydon.

‘We sent multiple resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, incident response officers, members of our hazardous area response team (HART) and an advanced paramedic. We also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.

‘We treated seven patients at the scene. Sadly, one person was declared dead at the scene. We took one patient to a major trauma centre and took five patients to hospitals.’

A spokesperson for the IOPC said: ‘We can confirm we have started an independent investigation into the circumstances of a fatal traffic incident in Croydon following a pursuit involving Metropolitan Police (MPS) officers on April 18.

‘So far, we have gathered initial accounts from the officers involved and obtained body worn video footage. Our investigation is in its very early stages.’

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