FAIRPOINT — Law enforcement officers attempted to stop the vehicle that was involved in a deadly crash in Fairpoint early Wednesday.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol is investigating the wreck that killed one person and seriously injured another. According to a news release provided by Lt. Brian McFarland, commander of the patrol’s St. Clairsville Post, the single-vehicle wreck occurred around 2:05 a.m. A 2007 Chevy Silverado was traveling south on Ohio 9 near milepost 20 in Wheeling Township when it failed to negotiate a curve in the roadway. The pickup truck traveled off the left side of the road before striking a guardrail and a tree.

“The driver, Demario E. Smith, 34, of Cleveland was pronounced dead at the scene,” the release states, “and the passenger, Lamier Bray, 35 also of Cleveland, was transported by medical helicopter to U.P.M.C.”

On Thursday, McFarland said via text message that a pursuit of the vehicle had begun in Harrison County.

“We were just involved in the crash side of the investigation,” he wrote. “We have no charges and our investigation is almost complete.”

Harrison County Sheriff Ronald “Joe” Myers said deputies with his department did attempt to perform a traffic stop on the vehicle on U.S. 22. He said a loud exhaust and lack of a license plate light got deputies’ attention and prompted them to initiate the stop.

“They did pull over on 22, but when deputies approached they took off,” Myers said of the Silverado’s occupants. “That kind of gets your ‘Spidey sense’ going.”

Myers said deputies followed the vehicle, but he declined to term the incident a “high-speed pursuit.” He said the vehicle went through the industrial park at Cadiz and headed south on Ohio 9. He noted that law enforcement had stopped following the vehicle closely in the New Athens area because it was traveling too fast for safety, though he said the officers could see the vehicle’s tail lights in the distance and continued to follow its path to “see where it ended up.”

Myers added that Smith, the driver, was wanted on warrants in Belmont County while the passenger Bray was wanted on Cuyahoga County warrants.

Belmont County Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan confirmed that Smith had warrants for his arrest in Belmont and Cuyahoga counties. In Belmont County, he was wanted for “probation review.”

An article published in The Times Leader on Dec. 19, 2019, states that Smith had been arrested for possession of cocaine and complicity with tampering with evidence on Sept. 26 of that year. The charges stemmed from a traffic stop on Interstate 70 in Belmont County. Smith was later found guilty in that case, according to Flanagan.

Flanagan also noted that Bray was wanted on warrants from Cuyahoga County.

In addition to the patrol, emergency responders Wednesday included the Cumberland Trail Fire District, the Belmont and Harrison county sheriff’s departments and the St. Clairsville Police Department.