RAPID CITY, S.D. – Rapid City police say two people are dead and a third is critical after a vehicle crashed into an apartment building late Tuesday night.
Police say at approximately 10:41 p.m., first responders were dispatched to the crash in the 400 block of Philadelphia Street. The initial investigation shows a vehicle was traveling southbound on Haines Avenue at a high rate of speed. The SUV lost control, crossed into the northbound lanes, exited the roadway, and struck an apartment building at 420 Philadelphia St.
Multiple agencies responded, including the Rapid City Police Department, Rapid City Fire Department, Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and the South Dakota Highway Patrol.
Upon arrival, first responders located two individuals deceased inside the vehicle. An additional occupant was also located inside the car and transported to Monument Health for the treatment of life-threatening injuries. The two individuals who died were identified as 28-year-old Zachary Vermeulen and 24-year-old Andrew Smith, both of Rapid City.
RCPD says that they were not in pursuit of the vehicle before the crash. There have been several reports of a pursuit that RCPD says are not true.
When the vehicle struck the building, it severed a gas line, causing an extensive gas leak that reached dangerous and explosive levels.
First responders quickly worked to evacuate all residents of the apartment building. Pennington County Emergency Management worked with the Holiday Inn to provide shelter to 50 apartment building residents.
The investigation into the circumstances leading up to the crash is ongoing and being conducted by the Rapid City Police Department, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, the South Dakota Highway Patrol, and the Rapid City Police Department’s Critical Accident Reconstruction Team.
