SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Five people were injured, with one person suffering life-threatening injuries, after a vehicle that was reportedly involved in a shoplifting in Tempe crashed in Scottsdale.
Scottsdale Police Department spokesman Sgt. Benjamin Hoster said the department got a call from Tempe police around 1 p.m. to help find a tan pickup truck that was involved in a reported shoplifting.
About five minutes after that call, there was an accident at 68th Street and McDowell Road involving the suspect vehicle and four other vehicles.
Witnesses told police that a tan pickup truck was driving westbound on McDowell Road at a high rate of speed and ran a red light, hitting a silver SUV that was driving southbound on 68th Street.
The tan pickup truck then hit three other cars before coming to a stop.
Two suspects, a man and a woman, got out of the tan pickup truck after the crash and fled from the scene, but were arrested by Scottsdale police shortly after.
The driver of the silver SUV sustained life-threatening injuries.
According to Tempe police, the shoplifting took place at a Walmart near Elliot Road and Priest Drive.
When an officer attempted to pull the suspect vehicle over, the officer saw someone attempting to push someone from the car. That person was later determined to be the victim of a carjacking after the shoplifting and was not involved in the crime.
The suspect vehicle also failed to yield to the officer and continued to drive erratically before the crash.
The intersection was closed in all directions shortly before 2 p.m. and was reopened around 8 p.m.
Drivers were encouraged to take a different route and expect delays on McDowell Road, east and west of 68th Street.
The investigation is ongoing.