Innocent Bystander Killed In Tahlequah Pursuit

Tahlequah Police say a woman who had nothing to do with a chase involving a shoplifting suspect is dead after the pursuit ended at Choctaw and West Avenue Friday afternoon.

We're told Cherokee Nation Marshals were chasing 36-year-old Aram Barack Catron because his truck matched the description of someone who stole something from Walmart..

It's unknown how long the chase lasted or what the speeds were, but it ended near Choctaw and West Avenue when Catron crashed into the victim's vehicle.

The motor from the woman's SUV is in one person's yard.

Tahlequah Police Chief Nate King said the incident is "senseless."

"There's a husband and children today that have lost a wife and mother who shouldn't have had to lose her life today, and that is a tragedy in Tahlequah. All for a misdemeanor shoplifting is what this gentleman was fleeing for," King said.

One woman heard the crash and described what she saw to News On 6.

"We ran outside the truck was coming across the road and that car was right here.  And I guess it hit it head-on and it killed the girl but the guy got out, crawled down on the ground, and he was all bloody," Kaysha Smallen, Tahlequah Resident.

Police said the victim's family has been identified but police want to make sure more family members are informed before they release the woman's name.

Police said Catron was in critical condition.