High-speed chase on Highway 99 ends in deadly crash

TULARE, Calif. (KFSN) -- By 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, crews had replaced the utility pole a Nissan plowed into late Monday night.

The car also hit and bent another thick pole before coming to rest in an orchard.

The driver, a 25-year-old man, died at the scene.

Just minutes before, the California Highway Patrol says he blew by a patrol officer on Highway 99, going at least 100 mph.

The officer tried to make a stop, but the driver of the Nissan kept going.

He took the Merritt Drive exit and continued on some other county roads before making his way onto Drive 60, which runs parallel to 99.

The CHP says he was still going over 100 mph when he hit a curve.

"As a result of that high speed, the driver was unable to safely negotiate the curve," CHP Lt. Robert Brunnel said. "The Nissan ran off the east side of the road, where it struck a utility pole, and then overturned into a vineyard."

There was only one officer involved in the pursuit, Lt. Robert Brunnel says he slowed down before the curve.

The CHP is still gathering all evidence and investigating the crash, but they say they have reason to believe the 25-year-old driver had been drinking.