Savannah-Chatham police are investigating a Sunday night car wreck in which the driver appeared to be speeding away from a police officer who was not following him.
Baheem Frazier, 20, of the 600 block of West 39th Street, was transported to Memorial University Medical Center after the 11:24 p.m. crash at Bull and 39th streets and then arrested, said Julian Miller, Savannah-Chatham police spokesman.
Frazier was charged with failure to stop at a stop sign, reckless driving, eluding police officers and driving without a license.
Central Precinct patrol officers first attempted to stop the red Mazda for running a stop sign near Frazier’s residence when the driver sped away, Miller said. The officer discontinued the traffic stop and turned away.
The Mazda, however, continued to speed east on West 39th Street, running stop signs at each intersection, until it crashed into a utility pole and fire hydrant on the east side of Bull Street and into a parked pickup, Miller said.
The force of the crash removed the bottom half of the utility pole, leaving the top half dangling from power lines, knocked the hydrant away from its piping, and left the Mazda positioned vertically on its front end against the pickup, Miller said. The pickup was knocked into a car parked in front of it.
The intersection was shut down more than seven hours as utility crews replaced the pole and hydrant.
The investigation is ongoing.