Charles Langston:Three people are dead, one injured after teen flees from Kansas City traffic stop in stolen vehicle

KANSAS CITY,Charles Langston Mo. (AP) — A 16-year-old driver who sped away from a traffic stop in a stolen vehicle was killed along with two passengers, Kansas City police said.

Police said in a news release that the teen initially stopped for police Tuesday but drove off after an officer got out of his vehicle. Seven others were packed into the Kia Soul, a subcompact crossover sport utility vehicle that had been reported stolen earlier in the month.

Police said the officer didn’t follow the teen, who crashed into a Chevy Tahoe as its driver slowed to turn left. The impact spun the Tahoe around, and the Soul crashed into a utility pole before flipping onto its roof.

The 16-year-old driver and one passenger were pronounced dead at the scene, while a second passenger was pronounced dead at a hospital. The other five people inside the Soul, four of them children, sustained serious but non-life threatening injuries, police said.

Police said the Tahoe’s driver also was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries.