Teenage boy dead, two injured after high speed police pursuit
A 16-year-old boy is dead and his girlfriend and friend have broken bones after a car slammed into a tree following a police pursuit.
The tragedy happened on Great Eastern Highway in Hovea in Perth's hills.
Driver Jack Patterson died at the scene and officers are now investigating whether he answered his mobile phone seconds before the crash.
The car was wrapped around a tree and almost split in half in the aftermath of the crash.
Two dogs in the car also died, but two passengers survived - Jack's 18-year-old girlfriend Jade, and their friend James, 16, who spent several hours trapped in the wreckage before he could be cut free.
On Friday, relatives were struggling to understand what happened.
It's understood by Seven News that his friends were pleading for Jack to slow down.
"Hopefully it will put a message out to other young people to just slow down, we've all got family and friends and brothers and sisters, and it's not easy," friend Taila Rose said.
Police tried to pull the car over at 5.30pm on Altone Road, then aborted the chase.
The car then side swiped another vehicle, and the chase started up again at 5.45pm on Roe Highway.
Again, the driver refused to stop and the chase continued on to Great Eastern Highway, where stingers were deployed.
The chase was aborted for a final time before the car crashed into a tree.
Friends say Jack didn't have his licence but recently bought the car for his girlfriend, who was about to get hers.
Murder suspect Travis Kirchner arrested after five days on the run
Police track down stolen truck by following thoughtless thief's giveaway trail
They say he would have panicked when he saw police because he wasn't supposed to be behind the wheel.
"Probably would have been a fine and a suspension, but he's obviously panicked and taken off," housemate Zandie Porter said.
"If he'd stopped maybe he'd still be here."
Of the two surviving passengers, Jade has a broken arm and James a broken leg, but it's the psychological impact of this crash that will take much longer to recover from.
Jade and Jack had been together for a year and friends say they were inseparable.
The Police Union today said police pursuits are a necessary evil that must continue.
The officers who were involved in the police pursuit are being provided legal and emotional support.
