Police say a speeding Dodge Challenger slammed into another vehicle on the south side after officers ended a short pursuit.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN — An Indianapolis man has been charged after police said he tried to outrun officers in a Dodge Challenger and crashed into another vehicle on the city’s south side, killing two men and injuring two other people in the early hours of April 4.
Prosecutors’ decision turns a fast-moving crash investigation into a criminal case centered on whether the driver’s attempt to flee police set off a chain of events that ended in a double fatality. The case also puts new focus on how a brief pursuit by Beech Grove police unfolded near the Indianapolis city line, what officers saw before they backed off, and what court records say happened in the seconds before the impact. Two men in the struck vehicle died at the scene, while the two people in the Challenger survived and were taken to hospitals.
Police have said the sequence began about 2:30 a.m. Saturday, April 4, when officers with the Beech Grove Police Department saw a gray Dodge Challenger speeding near South Sherman Drive and East Thompson Road. Officers started a pursuit, but the chase was short. Police have said they lost sight of the Challenger and ended the pursuit. Within about a minute, according to reports cited in the investigation, the Challenger crashed in the 4900 block of South Sherman Drive, near the area of Thompson and Shelbyville roads. Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were then called to what first came in as a serious injury crash. By the time medics arrived, two men inside the other vehicle were dead. Early reports said one person had been detained at the scene. In later coverage of the case, court records said prosecutors accused the Challenger’s driver of racing through the area at about 90 mph before the collision.
The men who died were identified by the Marion County Coroner’s Office as German Fernando Hernandez Suazo and 34-year-old Carlos Roberto Chirinos Puerto. Police have described them as occupants of the vehicle struck by the Challenger. Two men in the Challenger were hurt and taken to hospitals, and earlier police statements said they were awake and breathing when they were taken from the scene. One local report on the charging documents said the driver suffered a broken ankle. Investigators have not publicly released every detail about how the crash happened, including the exact movements of the two vehicles in the seconds before impact, whether any traffic signal played a role, or whether alcohol or drugs are alleged to have been factors. What police and prosecutors have publicly tied together, though, is the reckless driving, the attempted escape from officers, the high speed described in court records and the deaths of the two men in the other vehicle. The defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The crash happened along South Sherman Drive, a busy corridor on the south side that links neighborhoods, small businesses and major east-west routes. Even before sunrise, the road carries a mix of local traffic, workers and drivers moving between Indianapolis and Beech Grove. That setting has mattered in the public response because the two men who were killed were not described by police as part of the chase. Instead, they appear in the case as bystanders whose vehicle was in the wrong place at the worst possible time. The episode also comes after years of public debate in Indiana and elsewhere over the risks that vehicle pursuits can create in dense city corridors. In this case, authorities have emphasized that the pursuit was brief and that officers terminated it after losing sight of the Challenger. Still, the crash followed almost immediately, and that timing is likely to remain part of the scrutiny as the criminal case moves forward and police finish reconstructing the collision.
The legal case is expected to focus on the driver’s decisions before the crash and whether those acts meet Indiana’s criminal standards for causing death while fleeing police. Initial reporting after the wreck said the driver was being held on a preliminary allegation of resisting law enforcement with a vehicle resulting in death. By Friday, local television reports said prosecutors had formally charged the Indianapolis man in connection with the deaths. As is typical in fatal crash cases, investigators are expected to rely on crash reconstruction, witness statements, officer accounts, vehicle damage, roadway evidence and any surveillance or camera footage that may exist nearby. Court records cited in local reporting have already added one important detail: prosecutors say the Challenger was traveling about 90 mph when it struck the other vehicle. The public record available so far does not answer every question about the final charge mix, any bond decision or the date of the next court hearing, but those details usually become clearer after an initial appearance and subsequent filings.
The human loss remains the clearest part of the case. On one side are the families of Hernandez Suazo and Chirinos Puerto, who now face funeral plans and the sudden shock that follows a violent crash. On the other is a criminal defendant whose alleged attempt to get away from police has become the center of a homicide-related prosecution. The scene itself was described in early coverage as chaotic and devastating: a violent two-vehicle collision in the dark, emergency crews arriving within minutes and two men pronounced dead where their vehicle came to rest. Police also had to sort through the unusual overlap of agencies, because Beech Grove officers had first tried to stop the Challenger while IMPD took the lead once the fatal crash occurred in Indianapolis. That split may explain why information came out in stages over several days, first as a crash investigation, then as a coroner identification, and finally as a charging decision.
For now, the case stands at a new stage but not a final one. Prosecutors have moved from detention and preliminary allegations to filed charges, but investigators still must finish the full crash reconstruction and assemble the evidence for court. Defense lawyers will have the chance to challenge the state’s account of speed, causation and intent. Family members of the men who were killed may also learn more as court filings lay out the timeline in greater detail. The next milestone is likely to be the defendant’s court appearance, where the formal charges, bond status and scheduling will be addressed in public.
Author note: Last updated April 11, 2026.