Car crashes into church, bursts into flames on Detroit's west side

Image 1 of 3

A car full of people smashes into a church and bursts into flames on Detroit's west side after a police chase Monday afternoon.

It happened on the corner of West Chicago and Stoepel where a white Chevrolet Cruze with Ohio plates was burned out, smashed into the side of a church.

"When I got here, (there was) eight or nine police cars," said Gary, a witness. "I wasn't sure if it was a police chase or what. I knew he was really moving because he had to go airborne."

Detroit police say they attempted to stop the car when they saw the driver stuff what turned out to be a hand gun under the seat.

That led to a high speed chase down W. Chicago but police say they called off the chase almost immediately, right after that, the car crashed into the side of the church.

"Luckily they were next to the fire department," said the witness. "Because the car did catch fire and they did what they do."

There were four people inside and officers pulled them out of the burning car. FOX 2 viewer Wayme Diggity shot video of the aftermath with his cell phone in which you can see two of the people sitting on the side of the road.

Police say some of the people in the car appeared to have serious injuries. The crash under investigation as authorities look at dash cam video and do accident reconstruction.