11:12 PM UPDATE: The man behind the wheel has been identified at 16 year old JoQuan Liggion. According to our partners in news at 21Alive, he was a football and basketball player at Concordia Lutheran. Investigators say speed was a factor in the crash, but not alcohol.
A prayer service was held for Liggion at Zollner Stadium Sunday night…shortly after balloons were launched for another fallen Concordia student: Alonna Allison.
Our earlier story…
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): A man is dead after being caught driving the wrong way down a south side Fort Wayne street early Sunday morning.
The Fort Wayne Police Department says an officer saw a car heading towards him at about 2:24 A.M. on South Lafayette near Agnes Street. After the officer turned on his emergency lights, the vehicle stopped before crashing into him. The driver of the car then fled the scene in his car as the officer got out of his squad car and headed west on Dalman Avenue, eventually evading the officer.
Just a couple minutes later, the vehicle was found a few blocks south on Lafayette at the split at McKinnie Avenue. The man, who was the only person in the vehicle, was found unconscious and trapped in the vehicle. After the Fort Wayne Fire Department extracted him from the vehicle, he was pronounced dead at the scene.
An investigation determined that the driver lost control of his speeding vehicle and hit both a city light pole and a tree after going off the west side of the road.
South Lafayette Street remains closed between McKinnie and Congress Avenues until the light pole is repaired.
The man's identity has not been released. It's unknown if alcohol and drugs were a factor in the wreck. The incident remains under investigation.
