NILES TOWNSHIP —  A police chase that ended in a car crash left one 24-year-old Berrien County resident dead Saturday night.

The driver and sole occupant of the vehicle was identified as David Lee Bross Jr., of Berrien County.

The police chase was initiated about 5:27 p.m. when the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office patrol deputy observed a 1999 Subaru traveling in the city of Niles that matched the description for a possibly intoxicated driver.

The Berrien County Sheriff’s Office deputy then attempted a traffic stop on this vehicle in Niles, but the driver and sole occupant of the Subaru fled from the scene at a high rate of speed, police said. 

The deputy pursued the vehicle out of the city of Niles onto west-bound Niles-Buchanan Road after the Subaru sideswiped a vehicle in Niles.

During the pursuit, the driver of the Subaru made several erratic driving maneuvers and exceeded 100 miles per hour on some stretches of Niles-Buchanan Road, according to police.

Kathryn Filley, of Niles, was driving toward Niles on Niles-Buchanan Road when the driver emerged driving erratically west toward Buchanan.

“I was calling [my husband] Michael, who was behind me screaming, ‘Pull over, pull over!” Filley said.

Not long after Filley encountered the chase, she said she heard a loud crash, and saw the car crash into a tree.

The driver of the Subaru ultimately lost control of the vehicle westbound on Niles-Buchanan Road, west of Mayflower Road. The vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree, causing major damage to the vehicle.

Police said Bross was unresponsive at the scene, and he was transported by SMCAS Ambulance to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, where he was later declared deceased.

The deputy did not have the vehicle in sight at the time of the crash and was said to have only observed the dust cloud, caused by the vehicle leaving the roadway and crashing into the tree.

The Berrien County Sheriff’s Department requested the assistance of the Michigan State Police in conducting the accident reconstruction portion of this incident.

In addition to the Michigan State Police, the Berrien County Sheriff’s Office was also assisted at the scene by the Niles City Police Department and the Niles Township Fire Department.

The deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave, which is normal procedures, pending the outcome of the investigation.

An autopsy will be performed on Bross Monday July 30.