BRIGHTON, N.Y. — Rochester Police say a 17-year-old parolee was behind the wheel of the stolen KIA that crashed into a 92-year-old driver in Brighton, killing him.

The crash at the intersection at East Avenue and Linden Avenue happened while police were chasing the stolen car on Thursday afternoon. Police say Brighton resident Thomas Chase, a graduate of the Eastman School of Music who volunteered across the community, is the man who died.

RPD Chief David Smith spoke about the crash on Friday, saying the 17-year-old was a “career criminal”. Smith said the teen had been arrested for at least 12 burglaries across the city last year, where he used a stolen car to smash into storefronts.

“My folks are working. Something isn’t working. By the time we’re arresting these folks, it’s usually too late. They’re already involved,” Smith said.

Smith said that, when he arrived at the scene, he saw Chase’s body covered in a blanket. “I said the Lord’s Prayer for Mr. Chase because no one was there with him. No one but us.” Smith said.

The New York State Attorney General’s Office will investigate what led up to the crash, as the case with any police chase that ends in death. Smith said RPD will also have an internal review.

It all started when RPD responded to a “gunfight” on Maria Street off Clifford Avenue around 3:15 p.m. Smith said that, based on the sound from the ShotSpotter alert, multiple guns were being fired. When officers arrived, they found a KIA — which had been reported stolen from Irondequoit — with bullet holes in it. No one was hit.

According to Smith, when an officer spotted a 19-year-old suspect and began to run away, a different stolen KIA picked him up. That KIA backed up and nearly hit an officer on Friederich Park before speeding away.

“I’ve watched that body-worn camera video. You can see the officer bracing in the car because he’s pretty sure he’s going to get hit pretty bad by this stolen KIA. This behavior has also, unfortunately, become a common occurrence, suspects swerving at officers,” Smith said.

Officers chased the car for eight minutes before it crashed in Brighton. Chase was turning onto East Avenue when the stolen car crashed into him. He died at the scene.

The crash happened near the Brighton Fire Department building. Firefighters rushed out to help Thomas and the teens. Officers placed handcuffs on the teens and assessed them for injuries, calling ambulances.

RPD said the three teens in the stolen KIA were taken to Strong Hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Police identified the teens as the 17-year-old driver, an 18-year-old passenger, and the 19-year-old who ran from officers. RPD is working with the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office on charges for the teens.

Officers say the 19-year-old threw a ghost gun, a self-assembled firearm, as he was running away. Police eventually recovered the gun. They also say the 18-year-old was arrested in a nearby town for charges relating to a stolen car.

According to Smith, the 17-year-old driver was arrested just weeks ago after a chase with a stolen car in Erie County. Smith also said he lied about his identity.

“Despite significant injuries from the crash, he was still able to lie to the officers about his identity. He claimed he was his 13-year-old younger brother in effort to conceal his criminal history with us at the scene,” Smith said.

Neighbors who News10NBC spoke with say it was only a matter of time before something like this happened, though they never expected it to happen in their neighborhood.

Bert Vetter, News10NBC: “Anything like this ever happen around here?”

Eric Otto: “No, just traffic jams — but no, nothing like this.”

Eric Otto says he has seen stolen car crash stories on the news but had never seen one in his own neighborhood.

“I was on my way home and got diverted because they blocked off a very large area of our neighborhood,” Otto said.

News10NBC asked Otto what the solution might be.

“That’s a great question, that’s a great question. You’d think KIA would like have some resolution to this for all their models. it’s kind of crazy it’s continuing,” Otto said.

The East/Elmwood intersection has since reopened to traffic.

News10NBC live report from 7 p.m.: