MEMPHIS, Tenn. — A driver is dead after crashing into two houses early Monday in Orange Mound.

Police said the driver lost control and careened into the houses in the 600 block of Josephine Street near Spottswood. No one was inside the houses.

Family identified the driver as 30-year-old Eric Brown. They said he leaves behind four children.

Many who gathered at the scene around midnight blamed police, saying officers were chasing the man when he crashed.

“I was wondering how would somebody crash into a house like that. Who was chasing him if it wasn’t police?” said Daniel Brown, the crash victim’s brother.

But police insist no police were involved in a pursuit at the time of the crash and said they were not chasing the driver. They also said there were no reports of shots fired before the crash.

Neighbors said it was a dangerous stretch of Josephine, and several crashes had occurred recently. One neighbor said just two or three weeks ago another driver lost control and hit two parked cars.