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Fatal Crash In New Castle County Under Investigation

ELSMERE, Del. (CBS) - Police in Delaware are investigating a fatal crash that happened early Saturday morning.

Juan Colon, 36, of New Castle, succumbed to injuries he sustained in a single-vehicle crash along Kirkwood Highway in Elsmere at about 1 a.m.

Authorities say before the crash, a state trooper saw Colon speeding his 1993 Ford Explorer at a high rate of westbound on Kirkwood Highway at the Dupont Road intersection. Colon, according to troopers, ignored a red traffic signal and continued speeding westbound toward Elsmere. The trooper attempted to catch up to Colon in order to conduct a routine traffic stop for the violation and activated his emergency equipment in the area of Kirkwood Highway and Sanders Road.

At that time, authorities say Colon lost control of his vehicle and struck the center concrete median. The truck went airborne approximately 20 feet, striking a second concrete median, overturning and landing upright. Both occupants of the truck were ejected onto the roadway.

Colon, who was driving the truck, was transported to the Christiana Hospital Trauma Center where he later died.

Thirty-year-old Carlos Arzuaga, who was sitting in the front seat, was taken to the same hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The westbound lanes of Kirkwood Highway at Poplar Avenue were closed for approximately 2.5 hours while the crash was investigated and cleared with the assistance of the Elsmere Police Department. The Delaware State Police Crash Reconstruction Unit continues to investigate this incident.

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