BREAKING NEWS: Two killed during a police chase in Owatonna

UPDATE 6:46 p.m. : the names involved have been released by State Patrol. Driving the vehicle was Louis Duane Bennett, 42, of Owatonna. The passenger was Sauda Abubakar Maani, 24, of Rochester.
 
Two people are dead after a police chase ended with a vehicle hitting a pole on an 1-35 off ramp in Owatonna. 
Around 11:40 a.m., Owatonna Police Officers were dispatched to a citizen reporting a domestic assault involving a man hitting a woman on the 100-200 block of 21st Street Northwest in Owatonna.  
The vehicle’s two occupants left the area before police arrived, and it was unknown if the female victim remained in the vehicle with the assailant. 
A short time later, an Owatonna police officer observed the suspect vehicle traveling west on 26th Street Northwest near Interstate 35.     
As the officer tried stopping the vehicle, the driver turned southbound on I-35 and began fleeing at a high rate of speed. 
As the vehicle exited at West Bridge Street and collided into a post at the end of the offramp. 
The two occupants were pronounced dead at the scene. 
The crash is currently being investigated by the Minnesota State Patrol. The names of the victims have not been released at this time. 
Assisting agencies were the Owatonna Police Department, Steele County Sheriff’s Office, Owatonna Fire Department, Minnesota Department of Transportation and the Minnesota State Patrol. 
The Steele County Times will have more information as it becomes available.