Deputies with the Lucas County Sheriff's Office tried to pull over an SUV on Interstate 475 just before 6 p.m. Thursday, and the encounter ended in a fiery, head-on collision that killed two Toledo women and left a child fighting for life in the hospital. The driver who fled, 32-year-old Bria Boone of Toledo, died at the scene. The woman whose car she struck, 64-year-old Laura Anaple, died later at a hospital.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which relayed the details to 13abc.com, deputies with the Lucas County Sheriff's Office attempted to stop Boone's vehicle on I-475. Boone reportedly sped off instead of pulling over, kicking off a pursuit that headed northbound on the interstate. A child was riding in Boone's vehicle throughout the chase.
Chase Ends in Oncoming Lanes Near Nebraska Avenue
Boone reportedly exited the interstate onto Airport Highway before turning onto North Holland Sylvania Road, according to the patrol's account. She then lost control near the intersection with Nebraska Avenue, crossing into oncoming traffic and crashing head-on into Anaple's car. Per Cleveland.com, Boone's SUV caught fire after the collision.
Boone was pronounced dead at the scene. Anaple was rushed to a hospital, where she later died. The child riding with Boone was also taken to a hospital, suffering life-threatening injuries, the station's report states. The crash remains under investigation, and no further details on the cause of the deputy's initial stop have been released.
A Troubling National Pattern
The Toledo crash adds to a broader trend documented in a national study published in JAMA Network Open. The study reported that pursuit-related fatalities increased by an adjusted 2% annually from 2009 through 2023. Researchers identified 5,425 fatal pursuit-related crashes nationwide during that span, involving more than 8,300 vehicles and resulting in 6,352 deaths, according to a study published on ovid.com.
The research also found these crashes most often happen in urban areas, at night, on noninterstate roads, and when speeding is documented. Nonmotor vehicle occupants made up about 4% of deaths in the study's dataset.
This is not the first fatal pursuit to hit the Toledo area this year. In August, an 18-year-old died in a crash during a separate police chase in the city, according to an earlier report from 13abc.com. Thursday's crash, which killed two women and critically injured a child, is still being investigated by authorities.
