ST. JOHNS, Mich. — FOX 47 News has new information, and video on the police chase that ended with a man crashing into a semi and dying in St. Johns on January 8, 2018.
Based off documents News 10 obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request, 38-year-old Israel Dealmeida's girlfriend called police asking them to do a welfare check on him because she believed he was drinking again.
She told them bank-card records showed he'd been at the Walmart in Fowlerville and she thought he was headed back to St. Johns.
Since Dealmeida had multiple felony warrants police tried to pull him over on a felony traffic stop in St. Johns.
In the police dash cam video, it shows police attempting to pull over Dealmeida's black Ford Fusion on Northbound Business 27. It shows Dealmeida come to a complete stop for about five seconds before taking off. You can hear police turn on their sirens and chase him. Records show at one point he was driving faster than 100 MPH.
In the video, one police officer attempts to throw stop sticks and Dealmeida was able to avoid those. The video also shows another officer throw another set of stop sticks, Dealmeida avoids those as well.
He then blows through a yellow light changing red at the intersection of Townsend Rd. The video cuts off right before he hits the semi. According to the documents, the officer following him saw a large cloud of debris when Dealmeida collided with the semi near the Wheel Inn restaurant.
Dealmeida was expected to turn himself in to police that week on a weapons charge from December 2018, according to police records. His girlfriend told police he was doing better before the chase, records indicate.
Israel Dealmeida died on impact. The semi driver was not injured, but there was extensive damage to the truck's trailer.
