A sheriff's vehicle exploded in flames after chasing a suspect vehicle several miles from the South Side into a dead-end street a mile north of the University of Arizona early Monday.
One suspect fled on foot but was quickly captured.
The pursuit began near South Palo Verde Road and East Ajo Way at about 2:30 a.m., said Pima County sheriff's Sgt. Eric Thompson.
Deputies saw a vehicle without taillights and tried to make a traffic stop. The driver did not stop, so deputies followed it, said sheriff's Deputy Eric Heath.
Sheriff's deputies and Tucson police officers followed the vehicle until it stopped in the 2200 block of East Spring Street, near East Grant Road and North Campbell Avenue, where the street dead-ends at a wash.
Both vehicles stopped there without a collision.
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At least one of the two people in the suspect car ran from the scene on foot, Heath said. The deputy who attempted to make the initial traffic stop left the burning sheriff's car to follow one of them.
The department suspects the brakes overheated, causing the gasoline tank to ignite, Thompson said.
Other deputies detained the second suspect, Heath said. A short time later, the suspect who fled was also detained, he said. No one else was in the car.
The sheriff's vehicle was burned in the rear right panel. Parts of the bumper and lights melted off, and a tire was flattened. The Tucson Fire Department put out the vehicle fire, and a sheriff's airplane and Tucson police helicopter assisted in the pursuit, Heath said.
No other information was released Monday, said Deputy Dawn Barkman, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department. The department was closed Monday for the Presidents Day holiday, which prevented release of the incident report, Barkman said.
The department will investigate the cause of the vehicle fire, she said.
