Six-mile police chase ends in crash
Three men crashed a car early Monday morning after police said they robbed a Lawrence McDonald's and fled from officers.
The men led Lawrence police on a 6-mile chase after investigators believe they held up the restaurant at 79th Street and Fall Creek Road around 4:15 a.m., Lawrence Police Sgt. Gary Woodruff said.
According to a police report, McDonald's employees were opening the store when two men wearing masks and dark clothes forced them into the store at gunpoint. Once inside, the men demanded that the safe be opened.
The men placed the contents of the safe into a duffle bag and left the store on foot, police said.
An officer on routine patrol saw the men run from the store and enter a dark colored car, police said. The car began heading south on Fall Creek Road at a high rate of speed. The officer then turned on his lights and gave chase.
When the vehicle approached East 63rd Street, officers noticed something being thrown from the speeding car. The suspect vehicle then turned left onto East 63rd Street and right onto Boy Scout Road.
Officials said the vehicle crossed the center line several times during the pursuit.
The vehicle's driver refused to stop, turning from Boy Scout Road onto East 56th Street before heading East on North Franklin Road.
At that point, the officer slowed his squad car enough to keep an eye on the suspect vehicle. The suspects then drove their vehicle over a set of railroad tracks and the vehicle briefly became airborne.
The vehicle struck a brick embankment and a power pole before coming to rest in the 4400 block of North Franklin Road, near Pendleton Pike, Woodruff said.
Two of the suspects were thrown from the vehicle, and the third suspect was trapped in the driver's seat, police said. All the men were transported to Eskenazi Hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
The suspects were later identified as 21-year-old Tyron Hughes, 19-year-old Durand Johnson-Nance and 19-year-old Trae Taylor, all of Indianapolis.
At the scene, police found a stolen handgun, cash, and cash register drawers. Police found a second handgun in the area of East 63rd Street that was thrown from the suspect vehicle.
Call Star reporter Madeline Buckley at (317) 444-6083. Follow her on Twitter: @Mabuckley88.