PALM SPRINGS, Calif. – Police have identified two men being pursued by a Southern California police officer when he lost control of his squad car and died in a crash.
Palm Springs police said in a Riverside Press-Enterprise story Wednesday that Dexter Coleman and Durjan Germaine Gray led Cathedral City police Officer Jermaine Gibson on the Friday night pursuit.
Gibson, a 29-year-old Marine Corps veteran who earned a Purple Heart serving in the Iraq War, was declared dead at the scene after his vehicle hit a palm tree and burst into flames.
Coleman and Gray were hospitalized with major injuries after their vehicle also crashed into a tree.
Authorities say Gray was a wanted parolee for evading arrest.
Officials say they plan to seek first-degree murder charges because Gibson died in the commission of a felony.
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Information from: The Press-Enterprise, http://www.pe.com