FLORISSANT • A burglary suspect in an SUV tried to flee police across St. Louis County early Tuesday, ran a red light in Florissant and crashed into two cars and a telephone pole.

The suspect and one of the motorists he hit were seriously injured, police say. Both are expected to survive.

Florissant Police Sgt. Kevin Boschert said the crash happened just before 8 a.m. at Patterson Road and Central Parkway. After the crash, police recovered drugs and weapons from the SUV.

The names of the suspect and the innocent driver who was injured have not been released. The innocent driver suffered serious leg injuries, Boschert said.

St. Louis County Police Officer Rick Eckhard said it all began at about 7:45 a.m. Tuesday when police were notified that a home in Black Jack was being burglarized.

A St. Louis County officer saw a gold SUV leaving the home, in the 12900 block of High Crest Street. The officer tried to stop the car, but the car sped away, Eckhard said.

Eckhard said the county officer didn't chase the car, but instead stayed at the house and saw that someone had forced his way in.

Another county officer saw the SUV speeding near Jamestown Mall. Again, Eckhard said, the officer didn't chase it. A third county officer saw the car speeding near Halls Ferry Road and Vaile Avenue turned on his lights to pull the car over, but the SUV didn't stop.

Eckhard said there was no chase by police.

Boschert said the SUV drove into Florissant city limits, where it ran the light and collided with two cars. One of the cars was coming off Central Parkway and had a green light to turn onto Patterson. As the car was making its turn onto Patterson, the speeding SUV on Patterson ran a red light and hit the car's side. The man driving that car had minor injuries.

The SUV then sheered off a telephone pole, glanced back into oncoming traffic and hit another vehicle closer to Versailles Drive, seriously injuring its driver. That driver and the suspect were taken away by ambulance for treatment.

Eckhard said county police officers didn't chase the SUV because the first officer at the scene of the burglary didn't think the situation met the county's guidelines for a pursuit. Those guidelines require that the person being pursued had used deadly force or implied the use of deadly force or that the suspect could put someone in danger.