Officer-involved crash kills one

A man died after an officer-involved crash in the 3100 block of Fourth Avenue late last month, according to a Chattanooga Police Department news release.

George Walker, 73, died days after the car he was driving collided with police officers who were responding to another car crash. On Nov. 28 at 10:02 p.m., Chattanooga police were on their way to a car fire with people possibly trapped inside. Police had their emergency lights and sirens on at the time and were traveling south on Fourth Avenue, approaching East 31st Street. Walker was traveling eastbound on East 31st Street, driving a 2005 Saturn Ion with one passenger.

Walker continued to drive through the Fourth Avenue intersection without coming to a stop, failing to yield to both police and the posted stop sign, according to a Chattanooga Police Department news release. That is where Walker’s car and the patrol car collided. Both police officers who were in the patrol car were taken to a local hospital with minor injuries; however, Walker and the passenger in his car refused medical treatment at that time.

Two weeks later, on Dec. 14, Chattanooga police were notified by the Hamilton County medical examiner’s office that Walker had gone to the hospital two days after the collision and died at a later date. The Chattanooga Police Traffic Unit is still investigating the collision.