A 17-year-old man in a stolen vehicle was killed in a traffic crash early Tuesday morning as a Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office deputy was trying to initiate a traffic stop.

Spokesperson Kayla Vincent said the deputy was traveling on Broad Street at about 3 a.m. when he passed a car traveling on the highway with no lights.

“When the deputy initiated his lights and siren and attempted to conduct a traffic stop the driver of the car fled at a high rate of speed, running the red light at the intersection of Broad Street and Highway 14,” Vincent said. 

The deputy stopped at the intersection until it was safe to proceed, Vincent said, and when he did he discovered the car less than half-mile down Broad Street, crashed near the intersection of 6^th Avenue.

The driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The passenger, a 15-year-old male, was transported to a local hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

Deputies located possible burglary tools inside the vehicle as well as possible stolen items. Vincent said the vehicle had been stolen from a residence on Liles Lane earlier in the morning.

The Lake Charles Police Department will be handling the crash according to Louisiana RS 32:398, which states if an accident occurs within an incorporated city the local police department shall handle that wreck, Vincent said.