Two teenagers in a stolen car were killed in a crash after the driver fled police Wednesday night in Northwest Baltimore, authorities said.

The victims, boys 16 and 13, were riding in the passenger and rear passenger seats. They died after the white BMW they were in hit a utility pole at Reisterstown Road and Liberty Heights Avenue near Mondawmin Mall about 11:50 p.m., police said.

The driver, another 16-year-old boy, was not injured but was taken to a hospital as a precaution, police said. Another 13-year-old boy who was a passenger was hospitalized with lacerations and other injuries that were not expected to be life-threatening, according to police.

Police identified the victims as Cornell Gilbert, 16, and Syiid Brinkley, 13, both of Baltimore.

Patrol officers had been on the lookout for the car after it was reported stolen nearby earlier in the day, police said. Officers in a marked police cruiser spotted the car and attempted to stop it, police said. They said the BMW hit a curb and then crashed into the utility pole.

Police did not say how far from the crash site the officers initiated the stop or whether a chase occurred. They did not know whether the teenagers were wearing seat belts, spokesman T.J. Smith said.

One of the surviving teenagers was a brother of one of the dead, Smith said.

Police are conferring with the Baltimore state's attorney's office to decide whether to file charges against the 16-year-old driver.

Police said they've already collected some evidence that had been posted on Facebook but did not elaborate. Police asked anyone who saw the crash or took photos or video to call 410-396-2606.

Smith said the keys were left in the car when it was stolen. Of the accident, he said, that the car was stolen is “beside the point.”

“The bottom line in this scenario is that two teenagers are deceased, and two families are grieving,” he said, adding that the investigation is continuing. “As with any loss of life, regardless of the scenario, we need to have our thoughts with the two grieving families of, again, a 13-year-old and a 16-year-old.”

Marlin Hubbard, 45, of Forest Park, said he was sitting in the back of a taxicab at a stoplight at Liberty Heights Avenue and Reisterstown Road when he saw the BMW out of the corner of his eye.

Hubbard, who was on his way to a nightclub, said he looked up from his cellphone in time to see the speeding car, nearly a blur, tear through the intersection and crash.

“It happened right in front of our cab,” he said. “You could almost feel the impact.”

Police arrived right behind it and began tending to the people inside, he said, adding that the car was mangled.

Hubbard said detectives visited him at work Thursday to ask what he saw after he posted about the crash on Facebook.

The father of three said he feels sorry for the teens' families.

“I couldn't imagine my 13-year-old son in a stolen car, dying,” Hubbard said. “That's crazy. I just pray for the families.”

cmcampbell@baltsun.com

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