Bystander seriously injured during police car chase

WEST PALM BEACH — A bystander remained in serious condition late Monday after he was caught up in a police chase that ended with a crash Jan. 3 in West Palm Beach.

According to a city police report, a 2008 Mazda with five occupants suspected of being involved in burglaries in the Jupiter area crashed into a 2013 Ford driven by Orlando Bennett of Riviera Beach while the Mazda was traveling southbound on Broadway.

Bennett, 54, was found inside his car unconscious and “visibly injured,” according to the report. He remained in serious condition late Monday at St. Mary’s Medical Center, near where the crash occurred, according to a hospital spokesman.

Arrests have not yet been made but are expected, North Palm Beach police spokesman Sgt. Louis Pearson said.

At least two people in the Mazda, an 18-year-old man and an unidentified juvenile, were placed into handcuffs after the crash, on the 4400 block of Broadway near 45th Street, but were not immediately arrested.

The 18-year-old man was found to be in possession of a window punch, often used in car burglaries.

The Post is not publishing the men’s identities because they have not been arrested.

Police determined the driver of the Mazda to be one of three juveniles in the vehicle.