FREDERICK, Md. - Frederick Police say one of their officers died after crashing his vehicle while on duty.

The accident happened a few minutes before midnight Wednesday in the 500 block of West South Street. A police news release says 39-year-old Officer Richard Bremer was attempting to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver refused to stop. A high-speed chase ensued, and dispatchers lost contact with Bremer moments later. Backup officers found Bremer's wrecked car, which had jumped the curb and crashed into a grown-over railroad bed.

"It's definitely hard. Everybody here knows everybody. We are a family. He was a wonderful man; he was a wonderful officer," said Frederick police officer Lt. Clark Pennington.

Frederick City Police Chief Kim Dine was visibly upset at a press conference Thursday afternoon as he read a statement from Bremer's family, occasionally adding his own thoughts. "He was the kind of guy who'd do the job for free; that is what his dad told me," said Chief Dine. He went on to say that Bremer was a "great guy [who was] eager to work," making "270 arrests."

James Franklin Sweeney, Jr., is currently in custody

A search by police personnel turned up the driver who Bremer was trying to stop in a local motel. After finding the man's vehicle on the west side of Frederick, police located driver James Franklin Sweeney Jr., in a nearby hotel. The suspect was taken into custody for an active arrest warrant. He was wanted for a violation of probation, and he has a long history of petty crime in the Frederick area. He can now add 16 new traffic charges to his record as a small police department copes with the loss of a friend. 

Bremer suffered severe injuries and was flown to a regional trauma center, where he was pronounced dead. Police say he was married and had three children. Bremer was a 5-year veteran of the department.

South Street will be closed from East St to Hamilton St for an undetermined amount of time while the investigation is conducted. Members of the Frederick Police Department's Accident Reconstruction Team are working with members of the Frederick County Traffic Unit to reconstruct the accident in order to gain a better understanding of the cause of the crash