Coatesville police say they spotted the Jeep Patriot around 9:20 on Wednesday night traveling east on Walnut St. at Pennsylvania Ave without headlights.
They soon learned it had been reported stolen from West Brandywine Township.
Police say they attempted a traffic stop, but the driver sped off.
Officers say the driver, identified by family members as 12-year-old Rasheen Butcher, lost control of the vehicle on the 600 block of Olive Street, sideswiped several cars and flipped onto its roof.
Butcher was thrown from the vehicle and was pinned under it.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses told Action News they saw a patrol car bump the Jeep before it flipped. However, state police investigators say there is no evidence that a police vehicle hit the Jeep before it crashed. They also said no shots were fired during this incident.
Neighbors say Butcher would have turned 13 next Tuesday and was a 7th grader at Gordon Middle School, in a program for troubled kids. Sources say he was in the program because he shot another kid with a BB gun last year.
People in the neighborhood say they had seen him driving the stolen Jeep around for the past week.
Emotions were running high out at the scene. Police say they had trouble controlling a crowd that gathered after the crash. On Thursday, family members were speaking out on behalf of the 12-year-old.
"He was an outstanding kid, an A student, okay? He hung with my son, an A student," said Sabrina Rogers, the victim's cousin. "He was a good kid, not out here running the streets. He doesn't do that."
One neighbor was angered by the treatment of Butcher's body at the scene.
"They left that body out there for four or five hours while people were walking by. You could see blood coming out of his head. That was unnecessary," said neighbor Jeanette Miller.
Some residents wanted to know why officers were involved in a pursuit in a crowded residential neighborhood.
Coatesville Police say they went "by the book," but still are conducting an internal investigation to see if the officers pursuing the Jeep followed proper procedures. However, officials say officers were in touch with a supervisor during the incident, and would have called them off if it got too dangerous.
