Witnesses describe deadly Detroit police chase that ended in crash

DETROIT (WJBK) - A Detroit police chase ending in a fatal crash, now results in a criminal investigation.

The officers are accused of violating department policy then failing to tell their bosses they were involved in a chase at all, which ended in Jerry Bradford Jr.'s death.

Police say the investigation is ongoing and so far, nothing has been turned over to the prosecutor's office. Meanwhile the two police officers are suspended from the force.

The car, once wrapped around a tree on Maiden Street has been replaced with balloons and other mementos for the victim, Bradford, 19.

Police say Bradford was going 100 miles an hour through an east side neighborhood when he crashed. But it was clear from witnesses that he was trying to get away from something.

"The cars were coming this way, they were chasing him. Then they stopped," said a witness. "And as long as I've lived here 56 years, I've never seen police get on the scene as fast as they did here."

As fast as they arrived, Detroit Police Chief James Craig said on Wednesday that the officers should have been at the scene within seconds - after all - they were in pursuit of the car.

But that wasn't the case. Craig said the car in pursuit just a block or two away, arrived at the scene three to five minutes later. It was neighbors who were first on scene.

"We had flashlights trying to look for the young man," said one neighbor.

When officers arrived they secured the scene and started the investigation of the crash Chief Craig is also calling for a criminal investigation of his own two officers.

"I think they should be fired," a witness said. "Because my heart goes out to the mother of that son."

"They need to pay for this," said another witness. "They can't get away with this."