SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. — One man is dead and another was hospitalized with life-threatening injuries after a reckless driver led police on a high-speed chase in Chippewa County.

At approximately 7:59 p.m. Thursday, Chippewa County Central Dispatch began receiving a series of 911 calls reporting a truck that was driving recklessly, beginning in the Pickford area and heading north towards Sault Ste. Marie. The callers advised the truck was driving at very high speeds, running off the road, hitting multiple mailboxes, driving into the oncoming lane, nearly hitting other vehicles head-on, and, at one point, the driver of the vehicle throwing a tire iron out the truck’s window at another vehicle.

Deputy Sheriffs located the truck traveling northbound on M-129 and attempted to stop the vehicle. The truck continued at a high rate of speed in a reckless manner, striking the back of a small passenger car that had pulled off to the side of the road near M-129 and 20th Street. The impact from the truck propelled the car into an electric pole. The victim in the small car, who was identified as a 20-year-old Sault Ste. Marie resident, was ejected due to the extreme impact and was pronounced dead on scene.

After striking the car, the truck continued heading northbound, crossing 20th Street, and took out a stop sign and an electric pole guide wire, before crashing into three parked cars and hitting a building. The driver of the truck was taken to War Memorial Hospital in Sault Ste. Marie with life-threatening injuries.

The Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office called its accident investigators and were assisted by the Sault Ste. Marie Police Department, Sault Tribe Police Department, Sault Fire and Central Dispatch. Cloverland Electric and DTE were also called to the scene to stabilize damaged utilities.

Ashmun Street was closed for several hours while the traffic crash was investigated. The crash remains under investigation and the name of the 20-year-old victim has not beem released.

Anyone with information about the incident is asked to contact the Chippewa County Sheriff’s Office at 906-635-6355 or by using the department’s Facebook page.