A police chase ended in a head-on collision between the pursued van and a pickup truck that left both drivers dead Friday afternoon in Ellis County.
The Midlothian Police Department said in a press release that officers were pursuing a van stolen Friday from a Waxahachie construction site when it veered across a median on U.S. 287 near Midlothian, slammed head-on into the oncoming truck and burst into flames.
The innocent driver of the truck was Garrett Blake Tolliver. He was 18 and from Morgan.
MIDLOTHIAN — A chase involving a vehicle theft suspect and multiple law enforcement agencies ended in a fatal crash Friday afternoon near Midlothian, killing that suspect and an innocent motorist.
Ellis County sheriff’s deputies and Waxahachie police officers pursued the suspect — who was driving a stolen van — from Waxahachie to Midlothian.
The suspect was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 287 and struck a pickup truck head-on, according to the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office.
The van was charred after bursting into flames.
According to posts on Garrett Tolliver’s Facebook page, he had been driving home to Bosque County to see his mother and girlfriend after work when the van plowed into his pickup truck. A family friend started a GoFundMe account to raise money for the 18-year-old’s funeral.
The name of the suspect has not been released.
The van was reported to have been stolen from an Academy Sports and Outdoors parking lot in Waxahachie around 1 p.m. Friday. Officers were tipped off to the van’s location by a GPS signal from the van.
During the police pursuit, which began at 1:12 p.m., the suspect “ran one patrol officer off of the roadway” on FM 879, Ellis County authorities said. That officer was uninjured.
Eastbound traffic was diverted between Plainview and Walnut Grove roads near the scene of the fatal crash, according to the City of Midlothian.
