A student from the University of Delaware is dead and eight other people were hurt as two people in an overdue U-Haul truck were fleeing police officers in Newark, Delaware, on Tuesday, according to officials.
This all unfolded around 4:30 p.m. on April 29 when officers found a U-Haul truck that was reported by the company after it wasn’t returned on its due date of March 18, police said.
Two people were inside the U-Haul that was parked in a lot on the 200 block of East Main Street when the officers approached in an effort to arrest them, officials said.
The driver fled the parking lot, drove over a curb and hit a marked Newark police vehicle, according to officials. The suspects inside the truck ignored commands by police, but the officers reportedly did not chase the truck when it was fleeing.
Then, about five minutes later, the truck was driving very fast westbound on East Main Street when it hit two people who were standing next to a parked car, police said. The truck then hit several parked cars before breaking down.
Officers were called to that scene and tried life-saving measures on one of the pedestrian victims, but the person died from their injuries, police explained. They were later identified by the University of Delaware as a student.
The other person hit by the truck suffered serious injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital by paramedics, according to officials.
At this point, the officers said they found the broken-down U-Haul truck and arrested both the driver and passenger. The driver was taken to a nearby hospital with serious injuries.Aetna Hose, Hook and Ladder Company reported that three other people were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Three more people were also hurt but their injuries were minor and they declined medical treatment.
“We realized those screaming weren’t people having fun, it was people in fear. All we heard was car crashing and a bunch of noise,” University of Delaware student Victoria Dellano said.
The Newark Police Department Traffic Unit is investigating this incident and East Main Street was closed near South Chapel Street for hours Tuesday evening.
NBC Philadelphia’s SkyForce10 was over the scene around 6 p.m. where a black barricade could be seen blocking off a section of the road and sidewalk.
It appears as though the crash involved a U-Haul-branded van and several other cars.
One witness said that they heard a few loud bangs when this unfolded.
In a statement, the University of Delaware wrote that there is no active threat to the community and shared resources that are available to students.
Students at the University of Delaware told NBC Philadelphia that they have received two alerts from the school warning of them of the incident along Main Street, but have not been given specific details as to what happened.
As of early Wednesday morning, a memorial had emerged at the scene of the deadly crash.
At the start of the school year in late August, 2024, someone on a motorcycle was speeding away from police when a freshman was hit by the bike and killed on Main Street. Police said that they did not chase the motorcyclist in that case.
This is the second deadly crash in Newark, Delaware, in two days.
