Two men died and three were injured Friday evening after a stolen vehicle overturned in Colchester following a local police pursuit from Burlington, according to Vermont State Police.
The crash took place near Malletts Bay on East Lakeshore Dr. around 7:35 p.m., state police said in a press release issued early Saturday morning. Police did not immediately identify the five men in the vehicle. They said the injuries to the three survivors, who were transported to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington, were not life-threatening.
State police are investigating, as the request of the Colchester Police Department.
The incident began in Burlington, where the men allegedly stole a 2024 Ford Expedition, with “at least one of the men brandish(ing) a firearm during the incident,” according to a preliminary investigation by state police.
After locating the vehicle, Burlington police officers gave chase along Route 127 — known as the Beltline — into Colchester, nearly striking a marked Colchester police cruiser, state police said. When the vehicle crossed the municipal line, Colchester police picked up the chase, from West Lakeshore Dr. to East Lakeshore Dr., according to the press release.
Police did not immediately describe precisely how the crash took place.
In addition to the state police investigation, the Burlington and Colchester police departments expect to conduct internal reviews of the chase, according to the press release, while the Burlington Police Department investigates the theft of the vehicle.
Read the story on VTDigger here: 2 dead, 3 injured following police chase in Colchester.