Man charged with homicide in Santa Clara police chase that ended in fatal crash in San Jose

A man was charged with homicide Wednesday after a high-speed police chase that began in Santa Clara and ended in a fatal crash in San Jose, authorities said.

The Santa Clara Police Department said in a press release that officers observed a gold Buick speeding, driving through red traffic lights, driving on the center median, and driving on the wrong side of the road along Stevens Creek Boulevard at about 12:16 a.m. on Sunday.

Officers chased the car onto Highway 880, and despite repeated attempts to pull it over, the driver refused to stop, police said. The pursuit continued onto San Jose city streets where the vehicle ran a red light and collided with another car at the intersection of Naglee and Park avenues, according to police. The car then finally came to a stop after hitting a traffic pole at the intersection.

The crash resulted in the death of the Buick's adult passenger who was pronounced dead at the scene of the wreck, along with minor injuries to the two people in the other involved car. The driver, identified as 38-year-old Justin Buban of San Jose, suffered serious injuries and was still in custody at a local hospital as of Thursday afternoon.

Buban faces multiple charges aside from the homicide, including evading a police officer causing serious injury or death, reckless driving, and driving under the influence causing bodily injury.

The identity of the deceased passenger was to be released at a later date by the Santa Clara County Office of the Medical Examiner.

According to the department, at the time of the chase, Buban had multiple outstanding arrest warrants against him, including for being a felon in possession of a firearm, taking a vehicle without consent, false impersonation and petty theft.

Anyone with information on this investigation was urged to contact the San Jose Police Department's traffice unit at 408-277-4654.