CMPD: Car sped away from traffic stop and crashed into tree, killing driver

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Police said a woman was killed and her passenger was seriously hurt after they sped away from a traffic stop and crashed their car into a tree Tuesday night in west Charlotte.

The wreck happened Tuesday before midnight on Barringer Drive near Remount Road.

Channel 9 crews could see a mangled sedan that smashed into a tree, peeling the bark off the trunk.

Officials told Channel 9 it all began as a traffic stop on West Boulevard for a Buick with no license plate.

The driver, identified as Tearinie Bush, took off, according to police.

The officer did not chase after her but, instead, radioed the vehicle’s description to dispatchers so other officers could be on the lookout.

[ALSO READ: Toddler seriously hurt after hit by car in Steele Creek neighborhood]

The officer then got in his cruiser and followed the direction that the Buick drove off in and came across the crash.

MEDIC was immediately called, and Bush was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said she was not wearing a seatbelt.

Her passenger, who was wearing a seatbelt, was taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

Witnesses told police the Buick was heading southwest on Barringer Drive and was speeding as it approached Remount Road.

The car struck the curb and then a pole before continuing across Remount Road and then ran off the road and sideswiped a tree, investigators said.

As the Buick continued off the road, it drove into someone’s yard on Barringer Drive where it slammed into another tree.

The couple who lives there slept through it all and woke up to the sound of a tow truck outside.

“I just feel a little lucky,” said Asha Kennedy. “A little bit to the left or to the right, it could have been in our house.”

Police believe alcohol and speed were both factors in the crash.

Check back with wsoctv.com for updates on this story.

Cox Media Group