Jerome Hightower

A 31-year-old Bellefontaine Neighbors man was charged with murder Wednesday after a driver caught in the middle of a police chase died. Daryl Powell is charged with second-degree murder, two counts of armed criminal action and felony fleeing in the city. Police say Powell was driving the car that fled from police and crashed into the man's car. He was also charged in the county along with Javon Crawford, 30, and Adrianna Evans, 28. The three suspects each face charges of first-degree robbery, second-degree assault and two counts of armed criminal action. All three people were in custody but Powell and Evans wee still hospitalized Wednesday, police said. The driver who died Tuesday afternoon was not involved in the chase and police did not immediately release the person's name. Crawford, who lives in south St. Louis, and Powell are each being held on $250,000 cash-only bond. Evans, who lives in north St. Louis, is being held on $100,000 cash-only. Authorities say Powell on Tuesday around 1:30 p.m. drove the three in a maroon Kia Optima to a Dollar Store at at 10060 Halls Ferry Road in the county. Crawford and Evans "completely loaded a shopping cart with bottles of laundry detergent" and the store's assistant manager tried to prevent the two from leaving with the unpaid merchandise. Police said Crawford struck the employee's head over 10 times with a container of laundry detergent that weighed approximately 11 pounds. While that was happening, police said Evans loaded the stolen detergent in the trunk of the Kia and the three suspects drove off together. A witness to the robbery gave police their license plate, according to court documents. Within an hour, officers had found the vehicle in the city, attempted to pull it over and it sped away. The three got away until police said a county detective spotted the car at Riverview Drive and Hall Street, which is in city limits. When Powell refused to pull over again, St. Louis County police chased the vehicle until it crashed with another vehicle about six miles south at Cora Avenue and Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. The man in the other car died shortly after the crash. Crawford ran away from the crash but was arrested soon after, police said. Police chases in both the city and county have been a contentious issue in the last few years.