MOULTRIE, Ga. — Two men were killed in a vehicle crash Saturday after a Moultrie police officer tried to stop their SUV.

The Georgia State Patrol, which is investigating the crash, said that a trooper responded at about 2:50 p.m. Jan. 1. Preliminary information about the wreck was released Sunday evening.

“The Moultrie Police Department attempted to stop a 2001 Chevrolet Tahoe for equipment violations,” the GSP said. “The vehicle attempted to flee from the officer and sideswiped a 2001 Mazda CX7. This caused the Tahoe to lose control. The Tahoe left the roadway, overturned, struck a fence, and ejected the passenger.”

The GSP identified the driver as Jose Manuel, age not yet determined. The passenger was identified as Effrain Diaz, age 37. Both are from Moultrie.

Assistant Coroner Kevin Wimberly said Manuel died at the scene, while Diaz died after arriving at Colquitt Regional Medical Center.

Wimberly said the crash took place on Fourth Avenue Southwest near Stringfellow Elementary School, but the GSP did not say where the police officer first tried to stop the Tahoe. It is not clear from the GSP release whether the MPD officer was in pursuit of the Tahoe when it crashed.

This is the second fatal wreck during a local police operation in just over a week. Colquitt County sheriff’s deputies were pursuing a 2011 Kia Optima on Veterans Parkway the evening of Dec. 23 when it struck a 2017 Nissan Altima crossing Veterans Parkway on North Main Street. The driver of the Optima, Malcolm Dean Brown of Tifton, was killed, and his passenger and the driver of the Altima were seriously hurt.

It is also the ninth fatal vehicle accident since Nov. 19, including a one-car crash Dec. 11 outside Doerun that killed three people and a man who was run over by his own tractor Dec. 14, apparently when he was trying to jump start it.