SUV being chased by police in Temple Hills crashes, causes duplex fire

TEMPLE HILLS, Md. — A police chase ended early Sunday morning with a vehicle crashing through a fence sparking a fire that burned through a duplex, the Prince George's County Police Department said Monday night.

Around 1 a.m. on Sunday, police in Prince George's County were alerted to a vehicle moving from D.C. toward the county line.

The Metropolitan Police Department’s Aviation Unit was in pursuit overhead and alerted law enforcement in Prince George's County that the vehicle they were pursuing was coming their way.

A PGPD patrol officer saw the vehicle at Suitland Parkway and Naylor Road in Temple Hills. 

The officer turned on his emergency lights and sirens and pursued the fleeing SUV. Police said the SUV crashed through a fence and then struck a duplex in the 2800 block of Bellbrook Street in Temple Hills. 

The SUV caught fire, sparking a fire at the duplex.

PGPD officers cleared both homes to ensure the residents inside were able to escape the fire. No one inside of the homes was injured. 

Both homes suffered severe damage from the fire. 

PGPD said two people bailed out of the SUV and fled the scene. An officer ran after them. 

One of the men was apprehended nearby. He’s identified as 21-year-old Imaauddin Hawkins of Washington, DC. 

Hawkins is charged with malicious destruction of property and traffic violations. He is in the custody of the Prince George’s County Department of Corrections on a no-bond status.

The second person in the SUV has not yet been identified. 

Police have not said what the SUV was being pursued for.

The Office of Emergency Management and Red Cross offered assistance to the residents who could not go home due to the fire.