What started out as a robbery call earlier this morning, ended in a fiery crash. A Pinal County Sheriff's Officer attempted to pull over the burglary suspect. He refused & then proceeded to lead a chase with speeds varying 85 - 90 mph in his pickup truck. While heading down the westbound stretch of the Hunt Highway, the suspect tried passing two cars around Thompson Road. In his attempt, he collided with an 18-wheeler, resulting in both vehicles to ignite.
The suspect wasn't able to get out and died on scene. The driver of the semi was able to exit from the rig's passenger side and escape with minor injuries & will be fine.
Hunt Highway (between Ellsworth and Gary roads) was closed for several hours, so officials could investigate & eventually cleared the scene around 10 am.
The suspect had reportedly stolen $200 from the Queen Creek QuikTrip when he robbed the store at knifepoint around 2:30 am.