A driver involved in a hit and run in Chapel Hill on Monday later died after crashing their vehicle in a Carrboro neighborhood, killing their passenger in the process.
A release from the Carrboro Police Department on Tuesday morning shed light on the high-speed chase and crash that took place after a reported hit and run crash in Chapel Hill. According to investigators, a witness to the initial crash called 911 at 4:52 p.m. and followed a vehicle that fled the scene of the crime to provide emergency services updates on the driver’s location. A Chapel Hill Police officer tried to stop the car, but the driver did not — and traveled across town limits into Carrboro. It was shortly after that attempted vehicle stop that the second, fatal crash occurred, said Carrboro Police.
The driver was identified as 43-year-old Lawrence Richard Edwards of Chapel Hill, and the passenger was identified as 43-year-old Jonathan Lynn Blancett of Durham. The crash took place at the corner of Oak Avenue and East Poplar Avenue in Carrboro, with photos from the scene shared with Chapelboro showing the car crashed head-on into a tree just off Oak Avenue if driving southbound.
According to the Carrboro Police release, evidence from the scene indicates neither occupant of the fleeing vehicle were wearing a seatbelt, and speed was a factor in the ultimate crash. Toxicology results are also pending for Blancett and Edwards.
Carrboro Police said its department, as well as Chapel Hill Police and the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, are continuing investigation into the initial hit and run, the attempted vehicle stop by Chapel Hill Police, and the fatal crash.
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