Man dies in chase with Rochester police that ends in crash in Brighton

Brighton, NY – A police chase in Rochester ended in a fatal crash at the intersection of East, Elmwood and Linden Avenues Thursday afternoon.

According to Captain Greg Bello of the Rochester Police Department, officers responded to a report of shots fired on Maria Street around 3:15 p.m. and found a 13-year-old suspect attempting to drive away in a stolen car but crashed it, resulting in a foot chase.

According to police, the suspect then jumped into a stolen Kia with two other teens and led them on a chase through the city to Brighton. Bello said an officer was nearly run over by the suspects as they swapped vehicles.

The pursuit ended when the suspect's vehicle, traveling south on East Avenue, collided with a car turning left onto Elmwood Avenue.

A man in the other vehicle was killed.

Three teenagers, ages 13 to 18, were arrested and taken to Strong Memorial Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, Bello said.

“Thirteen,” Bello said. “I would say that's shocking, but unfortunately, especially with these stolen cars, we're seeing more and more young (suspects).”

Bello said police found evidence of shots being fired on Maria Street, but no one was shot and seized at least one handgun.

The Brighton junction is expected to remain closed for several hours.

“This is sad. This is tragic,” said Bello. “The victim did not deserve this. Too often we talk about victims of violence and this is an example of that. Unfortunately tonight an innocent person was the victim of violence and the victim of these children who want to drive around in stolen cars, recklessly, in this case almost running over a police officer and also shooting guns on Maria Street. This is a sad day, especially for the family of the victim who was involved in this.”