Police: Fleeing racer kills 2 in crash

Two passengers in a ride-sharing car were killed late Saturday after a possible street racer fleeing police crashed into their vehicle, according to Harris County authorities.

Deputies tried pulling over the driver as he and another vehicle repeatedly sped through red lights around 11:30 p.m. near Jensen Drive and Tidwell Road. One of the vehicles stopped but the other fled, authorities said. The chase reached “excessive speeds,” said Kevin Deese, a Harris County Sheriff’s Office commander.

The chase continued for another mile and the suspect entered an intersection at Parker Road, also along Jensen Drive. The suspect — whose wife was in the car with him — slammed into the side of the ride-sharing vehicle as that driver tried turning left.

“He basically cut the car in two,” said Sean Teare, head of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office Vehicular Crimes Division.

Both female passengers were thrown from the ride-sharing car and were dead by the time first responders arrived.

First responders rushed the ride-sharing driver and suspect to the hospital. Both are expected to survive.

The suspect, identified as Brian Tatum, 51, has since been released from the hospital, Teare said.

Police found open containers of alcohol and drugs, which Teare said was believed to be marijuana and another substance that is pending a lab test.

Tatum has since been charged with two counts of felony murder in the death of the two women. His criminal history in Harris County dates back to 1993 with predominantly felony arrests ranging from drug possession to evasion.

The deputies who chased after the vehicle were part of a streetracing initiative between the Harris County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies.