The driver and two passengers remain hospitalized while officials continue to investigate Tuesday's police pursuit that ended in a fatal collision.

No one has been arrested.

Investigators were hoping today to obtain a search warrant to look through the mangled remains of a BMW 325E driven by the man who tried to flee from Albany police, said Oregon State Police Lt. Mark Cotter. His agency has taken the lead in the investigation.

At about 1:30 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, an officer tried to stop the BMW for erratic driving and speeding. The driver then led the officer on a short pursuit before crashing into a Ford Mustang and fatally injuring one of his passengers.

Albany police initially reported that the pursuit lasted two minutes. However, that included the time the officer was asking via radio about the BMW's license plate, said Patrol Capt. Jeff Hinrichs, after reviewing the radio recordings.

From the time the officer said he was in pursuit until the collision was one minute and 39 seconds, Hinrichs said.

The collision occurred on Waverly Drive S.E., and the BMW rolled several times before landing next to Periwinkle Creek in Grand Prairie Park.

Police found personal items and two knives scattered at the crash scene or visible inside the BMW, Cotter said.

"We didn't see any contraband in the car," he added.

An actual search of the car won't take place until police get a search warrant signed by a judge.

Who owns the BMW remains unclear. It's registered to a towing company rather than a person, Cotter said. The car had not been reported stolen.

The Mustang, also totaled in the collision, was released to its owner.

The driver was treated and released at the Albany hospital.

Investigators plan to complete the bulk of their initial reports, which might take a couple of weeks, and then forward it to the Linn County District Attorney's Office for review.

Several troopers and Albany officers who are trained to do crash reconstruction work will likely take longer to finish their analysis as the work is technical and complicated, Cotter said.

One of the passengers in the BMW, Robert Duane McElroy, 36, of Albany, is in the intensive care unit at Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene and was in serious condition this morning.

Tara Shea Soto, 37, also of Albany and being treated at the Eugene hospital, remained in critical condition in the ICU.

The driver of the BMW, Lynn David Adams, 36, of Albany, was expected to be discharged this afternoon from Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis.

At the time of the crash, Adams had an outstanding felony warrant for parole violation.

Rick Bergey, director of Linn County Parole and Probation, said Adams has been on parole since August 2005, when he was released from prison after serving time for burglary and assault.

On Dec. 15, 2006, the parole office requested a warrant for Adams' arrest after he violated his parole by not reporting to the office and not participating in a substance-abuse treatment program, Bergey said.

Parole and Probation made attempts to find him but didn't have a good address to work with. Any officer who came across him would have been able to arrest him on the warrant.

Adams first came under Linn County Parole and Probation supervision in August 1991 and since then has almost always been in prison or on supervision, Bergey said.

Linn County Courthouse records show Adams has been convicted of crimes including burglary, failure to appear, possession of methamphetamine and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

Charges listed as being dismissed included attempt to elude police and reckless driving.

The passenger who died in the collision, Terez Jackson, 35, of Albany, also had an outstanding warrant for failure to appear.

In addition, she had outstanding fines and associated court costs at Albany Municipal Court of $4,831. The fines and costs go back to 1997, said city spokeswoman Marilyn Smith. No attempts will be made to collect the money.

According to Lebanon Municipal Court, McElroy was scheduled to appear there on a failure to appear charge four hours before the crash. When he didn't show up for his 9:30 a.m. court date, a warrant was issued for his arrest. The original charge behind the failure to appears was possession of meth.

Reporter Cathy Ingalls contributed to this story.

Readers comments at the end of Wednesday's online story about the fatal collision can be found at: http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2007/01/25/news/local/5aaa01_fatal.txt