Louisville, Kentucky: Passenger Ejected and Critically Hurt After Driver Flees Police Stop and Crashes on Garland Avenue
Louisville Metro Police say officers tried to stop a suspected stolen vehicle at 11:03 a.m. Tuesday near South 24th Street and Garland Avenue. The driver fled, ran a red light and hit another vehicle, leaving a passenger in critical condition at UofL Hospital.
Key points
- A passenger was ejected and left in critical condition on Tuesday morning in Louisville, Kentucky, after a driver fleeing a Louisville Metro Police traffic stop ran a red light in the California…
- Louisville Metro Police spokesperson Matthew Sanders said officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a suspected stolen vehicle at 11:03 a.m. near South 24th Street and Garland Avenue.
- The passenger in the fleeing vehicle was ejected in the crash and was taken to UofL Hospital in critical condition, Sanders said.
A passenger was ejected and left in critical condition on Tuesday morning in Louisville, Kentucky, after a driver fleeing a Louisville Metro Police traffic stop ran a red light in the California neighborhood and struck another vehicle, police said.
What police say happened
Louisville Metro Police spokesperson Matthew Sanders said officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop on a suspected stolen vehicle at 11:03 a.m. near South 24th Street and Garland Avenue. According to the police release, the suspect fled at a high rate of speed and ran a red light at Dr. W. J. Hodge Street and Garland Avenue, striking another vehicle that had the right of way.
The passenger in the fleeing vehicle was ejected in the crash and was taken to UofL Hospital in critical condition, Sanders said. The driver of the fleeing vehicle was injured but is expected to survive. The people in the other vehicle sustained non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Police have not released the names of the people involved, and no charges were announced in the initial reports.
Two police units are investigating
Sanders said the department's Traffic Unit and Public Integrity Unit will lead the investigation into the crash. The Public Integrity Unit investigates serious incidents involving police actions, and its involvement reflects that the crash followed an attempted stop by officers.
The intersection sits in the California neighborhood in west Louisville, a residential area west of downtown. Neither report said how long the streets around Garland Avenue and Dr. W. J. Hodge Street stayed closed after the crash.
The second fleeing driver crash in two days
The Tuesday crash came less than 24 hours after a similar incident in west Louisville. On Monday evening, seven people, including three Jefferson County Public Schools students, were hospitalized after a suspect fleeing Louisville police crashed into another car and a school bus at South 18th Street and West Broadway, near the YMCA. Police said the suspect and a woman in the vehicle were taken to a hospital with critical injuries in that crash, while the children were hospitalized for evaluation and did not sustain major injuries.
Tuesday's crash is a separate incident at a different intersection, and police have not linked the two cases. Both investigations remain open, and police have not said whether the driver in Tuesday's crash will face charges once the investigation is complete.
Timeline
- Oct 26, 2026Seven people, including three Jefferson County Public Schools students, are hospitalized in west Louisville after a suspect fleeing police crashes into a car and a school bus at South 18th Street and West Broadway.
- Oct 27, 2026At 11:03 a.m., Louisville Metro Police officers attempt to stop a suspected stolen vehicle near South 24th Street and Garland Avenue. The driver flees, runs a red light at Dr. W. J. Hodge Street and Garland Avenue, and strikes another vehicle.
- Oct 27, 2026Police say the passenger in the fleeing vehicle was ejected and taken to UofL Hospital in critical condition. The Traffic Unit and Public Integrity Unit take over the investigation.