Racing teenager dies in Wichita wreck; drunk driver crashes into police traffic control

A suspected drunk driver crashed into police vehicles that were blocking traffic at a previous fatal wreck that happened when two teenagers were racing in east Wichita late Saturday night.

Emergency crews were called at around 11 p.m. Saturday to an injury accident at Central and Greenwich, Wichita police spokesman Officer Charley Davidson said in a news release. Officers found 18-year-old Brennan Peshek in critical condition. He was taken to a hospital, where he died.

Investigators determined that Peshek was driving a 2005 yellow Ford Mustang south on Greenwich, racing a 2007 silver Pontiac Grand Prix driven by a 19-year-old man. Peshek’s lane ended, and the Mustang struck a curb, then a tree, then a pole.

The investigation is ongoing. Speeding was a factor in the wreck, Davidson said.

A second crash happened while officers responded to the deadly racing wreck. As police blocked nearby traffic, two Wichita Police Department vehicles were hit by a man suspected of driving under the influence.

An Eastborough officer who was assisting with traffic control saw a 2000 blue Ford F-250 traveling toward the road block “at a high-speed rate,” Davidson said. The officer “flashed her flashlight to get the driver’s attention but was unsuccessful.”

The F-250 overturned after side-swiping an occupied WPD F-350 truck and an unoccupied WPD Ford Explorer patrol vehicle. The 28-year-old man driving the truck and the 35-year-old woman who was a passenger had minor injuries. No officers were hurt.

Alcohol is believed to be a factor, Davidson said. The case remains under investigation.

Sedgwick County jail records showed no arrests connected to either crash as of early Sunday morning.