Officer, suspect killed in police chase crash near St. Louis

BELLEFONTAINE NEIGHBORS, Mo. -- A St. Louis County police detective died in the line of duty and a suspect he was trying to stop also died in a head-on collision of their vehicles.

The crash happened Wednesday afternoon in north St. Louis County after officers with the department's drug unit tried to stop a car that had been reported stolen, police said. The car fled, and police gave chase.

Officials said an unmarked police vehicle driven by detective Antonio Valentine responded and was traveling eastbound toward the chase when the suspect's speeding westbound car crossed the center line and collided with Valentine's vehicle.

Both Valentine and the suspect were rushed to a hospital, where they both died of their injuries. Another detective who had been riding with Valentine also suffered injuries in the crash and was treated and released from a hospital, police said.

Police did not immediately release the name of the male suspect killed.

Valentine, 42, had been with the department since 2007 and had recently been assigned to the Bureau of Drug Enforcement, police said. He was an Army combat military veteran of Iraq and had recently retired from the Air Force Reserve.