Fleeing police, car collides with van, injuring 5

A grinding crash in the Fairhill section of the city last night sent five people to the hospital, including a 13-year-old boy, and resulted in the arrest of a 33-year-old man.

Police said the crash happened about 8:10 p.m., when the driver of a Mazda 626 - who had been fleeing another accident scene - ran a red light at Second Street and Lehigh Avenue, and smashed into a Chevrolet Astro van heading west on Lehigh.

The crash was so violent that it upended the van, trapping the four passengers inside and the driver, described as a woman in her 60s, underneath it.

Police said four officers and three bystanders lifted the van and were able to free her. The driver and two other women in the van were taken to Temple University Hospital. The other two passengers, a man and the teenager, were taken to Albert Einstein Medical Center. Their names were not released.

Police said the driver of the Mazda, whose name was not released, tried to run away but was soon captured. He was in custody last night, facing a number of charges, including driving under the influence.

Minutes before the crash, police said, the same driver had hit a bicyclist at Fifth and Clearfield Streets.

The bicyclist, identified as a 40-year-old man, also ended up at Einstein with serious injuries.