Police say driver of stolen car dead after crash

NEWPORT, Del. (WPVI) -- New Castle County Police are investigating a fatal car crash involving a stolen vehicle.

Authorities say police were called about 12:20 a.m. Wednesday to the Cleland Heights area regarding a stolen Cadillac sedan. An officer later spotted the car driving without any headlights and began to follow it.

As the car sped up, the officer lost sight of it, but other officers observed it traveling at a high rate of speed without headlights on Maryland Avenue near South DuPont Road.

As officers began checking the area, they found the car had struck a tree in Newport.

Investigators say the speeding car hit a curb, struck a tree and traveled another 50 feet before striking another tree. The driver, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.