By William A. Weathers
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A man comforts a child being taken to an ambulance at a multi-car accident Thursday at Paddock Road and Seymour Avenue. Photos by GLENN HARTONG/The Cincinnati Enquirer

A distraught motorist is tended to by Cincinnati firefighters at the scene of the multi-car accident at Paddock Road and Seymour Avenue. Several people, including this woman, were taken to hospitals.

CARTHAGE - A man fleeing police plowed his sport utility vehicle through the busy intersection of East Seymour Avenue and Paddock Road on Thursday evening, causing a six-vehicle crash that injured at least six people, including two seriously.

One of the injured was a small child.

Two police cruisers - one from Elmwood Place and the other from Cincinnati - that were pursuing the SUV were not involved in the crash, police said.

The crash occurred about 6:20 p.m. as the SUV, which was westbound on Seymour, entered the intersection at a high rate of speed and crashed into two vehicles, police and two witnesses said.

"It happened so fast. It shook me up,'' said Sharen Wofford, 41, of New Burlington, who was stopped in traffic near the intersection. "It was horrible. People screaming and hollering."

"I heard all these sirens, and I stopped. All at once I saw this guy come flying and hit these cars," said Elmwood Place Councilman Randall Grandstaff, who was also near the intersection in his car.

Grandstaff said one man attempted to run from the scene after the crash, but an Elmwood Place officer stopped him at gunpoint.

The name of the man and the names of the other injured and their conditions were not available.

Cincinnati Police Chief Tom Streicher said the pursuit began near the Winton Terrace housing complex in Winton Hills when an undercover officer spotted a wanted man in the SUV. The undercover officer, in an unmarked vehicle, followed the SUV and called for a marked cruiser to stop the vehicle, Streicher said.

Police had been alerted to the whereabouts of the man - who was wanted on about a dozen warrants, including several for felony charges - by a tip from Crime Stoppers.

Streicher said the Elmwood Place officer, who was leading the pursuit, had slowed down as he approached the busy intersection.

"He saw the potential for a very serious accident," Streicher said.

Liz Oakes contributed to this report. E-mail bweathers@enquirer.com