2 dead, 1 hospitalized after South Bay police pursuit crash

GILROY, Calif. (KRON) -- A driver and two passengers inside a stolen pickup truck led Morgan Hill police officers on a chase overnight Tuesday in south Santa Clara County before crashing, according to authorities. Two of the occupants were pronounced deceased at the scene. A Gilroy Police Department officer spotted the truck, which was reported stolen out of Hollister, as it was leaving the Gilroy city limits. Morgan Hill Police Department officers later found it traveling into Morgan Hill on Monterey Road. Morgan Hill PD attempted a traffic stop twice, and the driver failed to yield, police said. On the second attempt, the truck’s driver hit a tree and a dumpster before continuing to flee on Monterey Road. Pursuing officers lost sight of the truck, MHPD said, after the truck’s driver ran a red light and police slowed to safely clear the intersection. “A short time later, the vehicle was located after it had crashed into a center median and light pole on Monterey Road near 1st Street in Gilroy,” Morgan Hill PD said. “The vehicle overturned, and its occupants were ejected.” The sole survivor of the crash was airlifted to an area hospital with critical injuries, according to authorities. The deadly crash sent a tree branch through a door of St. Mary’s Parish and shattered the glass. Father Michael Henrrickson told KRON4 he got a call from police around 2:45 a.m. and went outside the church to pray for the dead. The identities of the stolen truck’s occupants were not immediately available.