Wagoner County Chase Ends In Driver’s Death, Passenger Expected To Recover

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol is investigating a high-speed chase that ended in a deadly crash. A man driving the vehicle is dead and a woman is in the hospital Saturday night after investigators said he led deputies on a short chase down a dirt road and crashed.

The Wagoner County Sheriff's Department said deputies tried to pull the man over around 3:30 a.m. just south of Porter.

Authorities said he initially stopped the vehicle, but when the deputy got out of the patrol car, the man sped off, beginning the chase.

The sheriff told News On 6 the deputy started slowing down because they couldn't see through the cloud of dust and dirt flying up from the gravel road. When the deputy drove over a hill, that is when they saw that the man had flipped the car upside down.

The sheriff's department said the man was thrown from the car and died. Deputies said they found a woman crawling out of the wreckage.

Sheriff Chris Elliott said the deputy helped her until she could be taken to the hospital. The woman is expected to be OK.

Sheriff Elliot told News On 6 he can't confirm why the suspect refused stop.

"It's difficult for everybody involved in this,” Elliott said. “It's difficult for the people, obviously, that we're involved in the collision and made the decisions to do what they did and then the deputy himself.”