A police pursuit of an erratically-driven car ended in a homicide investigation early this morning.
A Philadelphia Police officer spotted a 2001 Chevrolet Monte Carlo going at a high-rate of speed south on 10 Street near Girard Avenue in North Philadelphia shortly before 12:30 a.m.
Philadelphia Police Chief Inspector Scott Small picks it up from there.
“This vehicle then struck a curb blowing out the right front tire,” Small told NBC10. “The vehicle continued operating a high-rate of speed driving on this tire that was now blown out and the (officer) followed the vehicle.”
Small said that the officer gave chase and the sedan eventually crashed into a parked car on the 900 block of Marvine Street.
The driver and the rear passenger jumped out of the car and darted away in the darkness, according to police.
The officer got to the car to find a man in the front passenger seat bleeding “profusely” from the head and face, according to Small.
The 22-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
“It appears that this male was shot at least one time in the face,” Small said.
Police found evidence in the car that makes them believe a shooting took place but investigators said they were still trying to piece together where the victim was shot before being driven to Marvine Street.
There were no reports of shootings in the direct area of the chase, but Small did say that there was a homicide along the 1500 block of N 23rd Street -- about 1 ½ miles away.
Homicide detectives are going to look into the possibility of the shootings being related, Small said.
“At this time we are still going to treat them as isolated incidents until we can prove otherwise.”
No arrests were immediately made.