UPDATE: According to Chico State’s Public Relations Manager Andrew Staples, Chico State’s University Police have determined that the person of interest who was detained near the scene was not the driver of the Ford Mustang. He has been released from custody. The investigation into the whereabouts of the driver is ongoing. If anyone has information, contact UPD at 530-898-5555.

A police chase Friday morning ended with a vehicle crashing into a home in the 900 block of the Esplanade. The crash set the house on fire killing Chico resident Barbara Ferris inside the building.

At around 1:30 a.m., a Ford Mustang rolled through the Big Chico Creek stop sign on Warner Street. This initiated a police chase that ended with the vehicle colliding into a home beside the Museum of Northern California Art. 

A passerby, Anthony Lopez, pulled one of the passengers from the vehicle. Firefighters pulled another woman from the car.

Both passengers and a surviving resident from the house were sent to Enloe Hospital, Staples said. Details of their injuries have yet to be released.  

Lopez heard the crash while on a dog walk with Alexandra Wynter, who ran toward the crash first, Lopez caught up when he saw the car on fire.

“I get up there and the car is almost fully engulfed. I see Chico PD think about it, it goes up further and they back off saying ‘we need a fire extinguisher,’” Lopez said.

The front of Lopez’s shirt was stained with blood, “I scooped up a woman in the car, that’s when I got hit with flames again and fell backwards.”

The driver fled the scene and later detained by Chico Police Department in the area north of the crash. 

The Orion will release more details as they are available.

Shane Aweeka and Callum Standish can be reached at [email protected].