1 killed by car fleeing police

UPDATE WEDNESDAY 11:50 A.M.: Police have identified the suspect as 23-year old Kyle Doolin.

He is being held in the Marion County Jail on suspicion of resisting law enforcement, causing death while driving while intoxicated and several drug possession charges.

The Marion County Coroner's Office has identified the man killed as 23-year-old Rudy Hernandez.

EARLIER:

A short police pursuit ended in tragedy late Tuesday night when a suspect, apparently high on heroin and other drugs, crashed into another car, killing that vehicle's passenger.

The incident, police said, happened around 10:40 p.m., after an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer noticed the plate on a white Chevy Malibu didn't match the vehicle.

When the IMPD officer initiated his emergency lights, attempting to pull the Malibu over, police said, the vehicle took off southbound on Holt Road, crossing Washington Street.

Meanwhile, police said, a red Ford Mustang was traveling northbound on Holt Road and beginning to make a left onto the Holt Road entrance ramp for I-70 westbound when the Malibu the IMPD officer was pursuing came careening through the ramp's traffic signal and smashed into the Mustang.

The man in the Mustang's passenger's seat was killed instantly, police said.

"This is one of those instances where you hate to report, but you had an individual who is solely responsible for this particular accident," said IMPD spokesman Officer Christopher Wilburn. "Now you have a family, during a holiday season, that will face some tragic news."

Wilburn went on to say that the driver of the Malibu admitted to officers and medics at the scene that he was under the influence of heroin, methamphetamine and other illegal narcotics.

While the pursuit only lasted a minute, Wilburn said, investigators weren't yet able to determine how fast the Malibu was traveling when it wrecked into the Mustang.

The woman driving the Mustang did not suffer life-threatening injuries, Wilburn said, but was transported to Eskenazi Hospital just as a precaution.

Police temporarily closed the westbound I-70 exit at Holt Road while officers and emergency personnel worked to secure the scene. The overpass remained closed well into the early morning hours Wednesday.

"(Pursuits) are tense, they're uncertain," said Wilburn. "Officers have to be mindful of the conditions in which they operate those vehicle, and they operate those vehicles with due regard."

Supervisors, Wilburn said, monitor traffic and weather conditions during the pursuit, and also take into account what the suspect is wanted for when making a decision whether or not to continue the pursuit.

"In this particular case," said Wilburn, "you have an individual who is obviously operating a vehicle with recklessness. So, that individual needed to be detained."

Call Star reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelAdams317.