Victim Named in Grand Forks Pursuit

The Grand Forks Police Department is releasing the name of the Grand Forks man killed during an early morning pursuit.

Lieutenant Bill Macki says 33-year-old Tony James Smith, of Grand Forks, was killed after crashing into a tree in the 200 block of Belmont Road.

At 5:16 a.m. Thursday, a Grand Forks police officer initiated a traffic stop on a white 4 door sedan. Smith refused to stop, and attempted to evade the officer. As the Smith was nearing the downtown area, he rapidly accelerated and turned off his headlights, in further attempts to elude the officer. At this point the patrol supervisor terminated the pursuit, as the conditions posed too great a hazard to the public to continue pursuing Smith.