Authorities have confirmed that a postal worker was killed when his truck was hit earlier today when a man ran from Pearl police.
Brandon Andrews, age 20, has been taken into custody and charged with multiple charges in connection with the chase and fatal crash.
Pearl officers attempted to make a traffic stop on the Toyota Camry Andrew’s was driving for speeding westbound on Interstate 20 just before 11 a.m., police said. Andrews allegedly failed to pull over and officers pursued. Andrews continued westbound on I-20 and onto I-55 south into the Jackson city limits.
Andrews crashed into a U.S. Postal Service vehicle on Maria Drive just off McDowell Road. The Postal Service employee was transported to the University of Mississippi Medical Center and died from his injuries.
The suspect fled the crash scene but was quickly taken into custody and transported to the Pearl Police Department and later to the Rankin County Detention Center and is facing numerous charges.
The identification of the Postal Service employee will be released by the Mississippi Highway Patrol pending the notification of the next of kin.
The Mississippi Highway Patrol, along with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Service are investigating this crash at the request of the Pearl Police Department.
The United States Postal Service issued a statement today about the crash, saying:
“Earlier today a postal family member lost his life in a vehicular accident, which currently is under investigation. The U.S. Postal Service is deeply saddened at the loss of our employee, who had delivered mail for us since 2015. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and his coworkers at this time.”
A neighbor near the scene of the crash initiated a Facebook live in the aftermath, showing that the mail truck was flipped. The Facebook user said the vehicle that was the subject of the chase had gone off into the yard.
Several police vehicles could be seen, including some from Pearl and Jackson police departments.
This is a developing story.