A person suspected of a drug transaction died in a fiery crash after a brief pursuit by deputies in Harford County, according to the Harford County Sheriff’s Office.

Deputies with the sheriff’s office’s Crime Suppression Unit spotted a suspected drug transaction on Meadowood Drive in Edgewood, authorities said.

As deputies attempted a traffic stop, the driver led them on a brief pursuit before crashing into four other vehicles at the intersection of Route 40 and Route 543.

The vehicle caught fire, and the driver, who was trapped inside, died in the crash, the sheriff’s office said.

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“This was our Crime Suppression Unit watching a drug transaction take place, trying to do a directed [stop] on a suspect involved in that transaction, and the suspect made a decision...to put people’s lives at risk, including his own,” Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said.

Gahler said two others involved in the crash were taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. A deputy rescued a driver before another vehicle caught fire.

“The deputy who was in pursuit, who was well back from the suspect vehicle, saw a citizen struggling to get out of a vehicle and was able to rescue them before it caught fire,” Gahler said.

The Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division responded to the scene to conduct its state-mandated investigation.

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