A police chase ended early Thursday in a fiery wrong-way crash in Fairfax County, killing the driver of an SUV and injuring a police officer.
Cicero I. Limberea, 40, of no fixed address, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The incident began when police responded to a domestic call at a home in the 4800 block of Tapestry Drive in West Springfield.
Officers say they were interviewing Limberea at the scene when he got into a white SUV and left. An officer saw him make a right turn into oncoming traffic on Little River Turnpike. The officer then followed him in the eastbound lanes, authorities told News4's Megan McGrath.
Limberea nearly struck several other vehicles before crashing head-on into another police cruiser near the Beltway around 12:30 a.m., authorities said.
The SUV crashed and burst into flames, killing Limberea.
The driver of the police cruiser, a 28-year-old Fairfax County police officer, had been headed to the scene after hearing radio traffic about the situation. He needed to be extracted from his car and was airlifted to a hospital with numerous injuries. He is now listed as stable.
Police reopened Little River Turnpike around 6 a.m.
The county's Crash Reconstruction Unit is investigating the accident.