Indy driver charged with killing 2 men trying to escape police chase

INDIANAPOLIS --  A half dozen felony charges, including reckless homicide, have been filed against an Indianapolis man accused of killing two people while trying to escape police on the city’s south side. The deadly incident began around 2:30 a.m. Saturday when a Beech Grove officer was sitting in his car watching traffic along Thompson Road. The officer allegedly spotted the suspect driving at an unreasonable speed and gave chase. That ended with a fatal crash that was caught on camera. Surveillance video shows the victim driving a white Nissan south on Keystone Avenue, when he starts to turn left on a green light, a Dodge Challenger speeding north at 90 miles an hour slams into the victim’s passenger side. The crash left the victim’s white car a twisted mess of metal and killed the two innocent men inside. “Unfortunately, this was a preventable tragedy. Two people lost their lives for something that should not have happened,” said IMPD officer Drew Brown. The crash claimed the lives of 39-year-old German Fernando Hernandez Suazo and 34-year-old Carlos Roberto Chirinos Puerto. Both men were from Honduras. The driver of the Challenger, 20-year-old Jerry Gutierrez, suffered a broken ankle. Gutierrez is now charged with resisting law enforcement, causing death and reckless homicide. Court records show a passenger in the suspect’s car who survived the crash claims, “He told Jerry ‘Just try to stop bro.’ and Jerry responded, ‘I think I got this.’” “Someone made a decision to drive recklessly and two of our neighbors lost their lives and, unfortunately, we see this all too often,” said Brown. Beech Grove police claim that during the chase the suspect turned off his headlights and, with speeds more than twice the legal limit, the pursuing officer terminated the chase. Video shows officers were still close enough to respond within 40 seconds of the collision, but both victims died on scene. Nearly a week later, car parts still litter the location of the crash. IMPD hopes the case is a reminder to everyone that reckless driving can cost lives. “I just want to emphasize driving safely is a shared responsibility. We have a responsibility every time we get behind the wheel. It only takes a second for a tragedy to unfold if we aren’t responsible,” said Brown. Gutierrez is currently being held without bond pending an initial hearing, which currently is set for next week.