2 teenage passengers dead after car crashes in Southern Indiana following police chase

Two teenagers were killed following a police pursuit Thursday in Jefferson County, Indiana, that ended in a crash. According to an Indiana State Police news release, a Madison Police Department officer was trying to stop a 2005 Toyota at about 3:45 p.m. Thursday. Authorities have not said why the officer was trying to conduct the traffic stop. An initial investigation found the car, driven by 18-year-old Blake S. Coombs, of Madison, fled from the officer on State Road 7, according to state police. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Department and Indiana State Police joined the chase, which continued on several roads before Coombs lost control of his car on State Road 256 at Thompson Road. The car left the road and hit two utility poles, according to state police. The crash site is west of Madison and roughly 40 miles northeast of Louisville. A front seat passenger in the Toyota, 18-year-old Tyler Cooley, of Hanover, Indiana, and a backseat passenger, 19-year-old Brooklyn James, of Madison, were killed in the crash, according to Indiana State Police. Coombs, who also went by the name Blake Eisenhower, was airlifted from the scene to a Louisville-area hospital, where he is receiving treatment for serious injuries, state police said. Coombs did not have driver’s license at the time of the crash, according to state police. No charges have been announced following the incident. Cooley was reportedly a student at Southwestern High School in Hanover, and Coombs had also reportedly been a student there at one time but was not currently enrolled. James’ parents told local news outlets that witnesses described seeing their daughter waving her hands from the back of the car during the chase, as if she wanted the chase to end. The Indiana State Police Versailles Post is leading an ongoing investigation into the fatal crash, which shut down State Road 256 for about seven hours Thursday. Original story here.