Pittsburgh man faces vehicular homicide charge
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- A man accused of crashing a pickup truck into two other vehicles while fleeing police, killing two people and sending six others to hospitals, was charged with vehicular homicide, police said.
Devon Miles, 20, of Pittsburgh, was also arraigned Friday on gun and drug counts and traffic violations stemming from the crash shortly after 6 p.m. Thursday in the city's Homewood neighborhood, police said.
Police accuse Miles of fleeing officers who were trying to pull him over, driving through a red light at an intersection and crashing the truck into a GMC van and a Ford car.
Both people in the car, Michelle Ann Rankin, 35, of Wilkinsburg, and Jerome D. Smith, 34, of Pittsburgh, died at the scene of blunt force trauma of the head and trunk, according to the Allegheny County medical examiner. Their deaths were ruled homicides.
Police Chief Dominic Costa said officers in an unmarked car pursued Miles when he failed to pull over for a traffic stop. Costa said the officers activated their lights and siren, and the pursuit lasted only about two blocks. The department is investigating, he said.
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