DETROIT -- A man who led police on a high-speed chase through metro Detroit last week and died in a resulting crash has been identified.

Taylor police said dental records were used to identify Daniel Jewel, 20, of Detroit, as the driver of the stolen truck that erupted into flames on Detroit’s west side.

Police had been waiting to identify Jewel because no ID was found on him at the time and his body was badly burned.

Sky4 followed the chase with Taylor police for more than 15 minutes just before 7 a.m. Thursday.

The pickup truck was traveling westbound on Michigan Avenue near Livernois Avenue when it collided with a minivan that was making a left. The truck sideswiped another vehicle before it slammed into a utility pole and exploded.

"I see the truck speeding like crazy," said eyewitness Raed Dharhan. "I let him pass me, he almost hit me and I run behind … and I see the truck hit the light pole and then blow up."

Police said the driver of the minivan, 66-year-old Maria Delaluz Pardo, did not mean to crash into the pickup truck, ultimately ending the pursuit.

"Apparently she did not mean to do it. I don’t know if she just didn't see him coming, or the timing was off and she didn't know how fast he was coming. But it was not purposeful from what I can tell or from what I have been told," said Taylor Police Cmdr. Don Helvey.

Pardo was treated at Oakwood Hospital for minor injuries. Her son, Rayes Gutierrez, said she is very shaken up.

“She’s got a nice big welt on her right arm. Both of her knees are kinda banged up,” Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez shared with Local 4 one of the messages his mother left him minutes after being involved in the crash.

“Hello? Ray, please wake up. I’m in an accident, Ray. Ray, wake up.”

Gutierrez said his mother was on her way home from a McDonalds with a coffee, something he said she does every day.

Jose Hernandez, the driver of the vehicle that was hit second, told Local 4 he was struck seconds after pulling out of a restaurant where he had just finished a cup of coffee.

Hernandez's truck was sideswiped and pushed 10 feet into a pole.

"It's hard to think anything at that time. I am just trying to get out of my truck," said Hernandez.

He walked away from the crash with minor cuts and bruises.

"I think this is my lucky day today. That's the way that I see it," Hernandez told Local 4.

The fire from the pickup briefly spread along the sidewalk in front of a nearby Telway restaurant.

Three tires could be seen rolling across the seven-lane road as the stolen pickup was immediately engulfed in flames.

Fire and rescue crews extinguished the fire and later covered the pickup with a tarpaulin.

Off-duty Detroit EMS first responder Kristie Ivy said she was driving in the area when she got a phone call about the crash and she was one of the first people on the scene.

"When I saw it I was just screaming in my vehicle," said Ivy.

Ivy said she was worried that her friends who hang out in restaurant behind the crash could have been hurt.

She said the first truck that hit the pickup saved everybody in the restaurant.

Earl Owens, 80, said he was in front of the restaurant minutes earlier sweeping the streets.

"If it had been three minutes earlier, I would have been right there on the sidewalk and it would have cremated me too," said Owens.

Gutierrez said his mother feels bad.

“She feels sorry for the individual that was in the truck, and wishes that things would never have happened,” he said.

Police said Jewel stole the truck in Taylor, and that it belongs to a Monroe resident.

Jewel has a criminal record.

View his offender entry on the Michigan Corrections Web site here.