A man has drowned after entering a flooded brook following a police chase in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Officers were pursuing a vehicle towing a caravan reported stolen from Oakerthorpe village in Derbyshire. Police said the vehicle rammed patrol cars before coming to a stop near Egginton, where two men fled on foot.
One man was arrested at the scene. The second entered Egginton Brook, which was in flood. He was pulled from the water several hours later and taken to Royal Derby Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Formal identification has yet to take place and officers are working to locate his next of kin.
Derbyshire Police has referred itself to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), as is standard procedure when someone dies following police contact.
It is understood the man entered the water near the junction of Main Street and Ash Grove Lane, close to a bridge over the brook.
Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service carried out extensive searches before the man was located, treated by paramedics and taken to hospital.
Adrian Osiecki, 34, of Harnall Lane West, Coventry, has been charged with dangerous driving, failing to stop for police, criminal damage to police vehicles, driving without insurance, driving while disqualified and theft of a caravan.
He is due to appear at Southern Derbyshire Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
