Driver of fleeing car dies in fiery crash in Belcamp, sheriff says

The driver of a fleeing car died Tuesday afternoon in a fiery crash in Belcamp, according to the Harford County Sheriff's Office.Harford County Sheriff Jeff Gahler said deputies observed a suspected drug transaction on Meadowood Drive and tried to stop the suspect vehicle after observing multiple traffic violations.The sheriff said the driver fled east on U.S. Route 40 through the intersection of Bata Boulevard. Upon reaching the intersection of Route 40 and Maryland Route 543, the driver collided with four other vehicles.Gahler said the suspect vehicle immediately caught fire, trapping the driver inside. He died in the crash, the sheriff said.Gahler said the pursuit lasted 96 seconds and that a deputy rescued the driver of one of the cars that was struck.Two people were taken to hospitals with non-life-threatening injuries, the sheriff said."Here in Harford County, we believe in good proactive policing, and that's what this was," Gahler said. "Our crime suppression unit, watching a drug transaction take place, tried to direct a stop on a suspect involved in that transaction, and the suspect in this case made a decision — sadly, a decision that our Legislature time after time wants to encourage — to put people's lives at risk, including his own. We are thankful no one was seriously injured in this incident other than the suspect."The attorney general's Independent Investigations Division is reviewing the case as it involves a fatality.Route 40 was closed in both directions at Route 543, SKY 11 reported.