Cleveland Heights Police Chase Ends In Fatal Crash!

New video released by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT) on Monday shows the moments when a police chase turned deadly last week on I-90 in Cleveland.

Last Wednesday, Cleveland Heights police officers were pursuing a man suspected of stealing an Enterprise rental van used for Amazon deliveries. Police say Jalen Jackson, 23, of Cleveland, stole the van at gunpoint. and led police on a chase from Cleveland Heights, into East Cleveland, and through Ohio City in Cleveland.

According to police, Jackson then entered I-90 West from West 25th, but drove eastbound in the westbound lanes. Officers said speeds reached as high as 113 miles per hour, before the 20-minute chase came to a tragic end.

Moments later, the van hits an oncoming white sedan, head-on in the lane closest to the median.

In the video, Jackson appears to be injured and tries to flee the scene by hopping away on one leg. Several police officers chase after him on foot and take him into custody.

However it took more than one minute for officers to turn their attention on the driver who was hit in the crash.

The driver of the white sedan, Dr. Curtis Birchall, 70, died at the scene. He was an emergency room doctor for decades, and helped thousands of patients at his medical spa, The Fountain Clinic, in Rocky River.

The Cleveland Heights police pursuit policy states that as a general rule, officers should not chase a vehicle driving the wrong way. But the department will not say if its policy was violated until its investigation is complete.