COLUMBUS, Ohio — Two people were killed and another was injured after police said their vehicle crashed following a traffic stop near Hilliard early Friday morning.
Around 2:50 a.m., an officer with the Hilliard Division of Police was dispatched to the Certified gas station located at 4546 Cemetery Road after an alarm went off at the business. The officer found that the front glass door was shattered and several cases of cigarette cartons were missing.
Around the same time, another officer saw a lime green-colored SUV speeding on Fishinger Boulevard. The officer pulled the vehicle over near Park Mill Run Drive.
The officer approached the vehicle and the driver of the SUV left the scene at a high rate of speed. Police said the officer did not initiate a chase.
The officer found that the vehicle crashed outside Columbus Fire Station 30 on Fishinger Boulevard, about a half-mile down the road from the traffic stop.
Police said three people were inside the vehicle at the time of the crash.
A woman was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:23 a.m. A male was taken to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Hospital and was pronounced dead at 4:21 a.m., police said.
Another female was taken to Riverside Methodist Hospital in critical condition, but her condition was upgraded to stable, police added.
Police said cartons of cigarettes were found in the vehicle involved in the crash. Police did not provide further information on the vehicle’s connection to the incident at the gas station.
The Columbus Division of Police Accident Investigation Unit and Hilliard police are investigating the circumstances around the fatal crash.
Fishinger Boulevard between Mill Run Drive and Smiley Road has reopened after being closed for several hours.