Dramatic images captured in the aftermath of the crash show the crushed metal where a 2005 Suburu Outback slammed into a pole on Route 40 in Havre de Grace killing the driver identified as 42-year old Terrence Gibson, Sr. of Columbia.
"The state troopers got out of their vehicles,” said a witness at the scene who did not want us to use his name, “They had their guns drawn on the vehicles and were yelling, 'Get out of the car! Get out of the car!', but at that point, the car was smoking and not long after that, they started what appeared to be pulling people out of the vehicles one-by-one."
State police say a few minutes earlier, just before nine o'clock Monday night, a trooper had initiated a traffic stop after running the car's tag at an intersection in Elkton some 15 miles away.
"This was a stolen vehicle from Baltimore City just a few days prior,” said Elena Russo of the Maryland State Police, “He initiated the activation of his emergency lights, and once that happened, the driver of that Suburu did a U-turn and then just took off at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour."
The trooper backed off as the driver approached a busy intersection at Mechanic Valley Road, but another one renewed the chase as the car sped through North East.
Stop sticks flattened two of the car's tires in Perryville, but it continued across the Hatem Bridge before crashing into the pole.
"We actually heard a bang from my house," said Adam Weiss who is now left wondering why the driver risked it all to run, "He probably would have either gone to jail or gotten written a sentence or something like that."
Evidence found inside the stolen car may offer some reason the driver threw all caution to the wind.
"Police on scene did find what looked to be illegal drugs and some paraphernalia---all of which will be sent to the Maryland State Police Crime Lab for analysis," said Russo.
Court records suggest this wasn't the first time that Gibson had run from police.
In November of 2016, police in Howard County stopped him in a car with suspended tags, but he took off, bailed out of the vehicle and fled on foot.
A search of that car also turned up drug paraphernalia, and he ended up spending more than two months in jail.
Police have identified the other three people in the stolen car as 30-year old Melissa Ann Williams of Middle River, 41-year old Joseph Taylor of Edgewood and 42-year old Nicole Lashawn King of Baltimore.
They all sustained serious injuries and two of them had to be airlifted to area hospitals.
