A car theft suspect died in a fiery crash in Salem late Monday night, police said.

Eric Monroe, 22, of Keizer, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash on Mission Street at the I-5 overpass in Salem. It happened just before midnight.

Police said Monroe was driving a stolen 1989 Ford Mustang eastbound on Mission Street when he lost control, went into oncoming traffic and hit a Dodge Stratus traveling in the westbound lanes.

The force of the collision ejected Monroe from the Mustang and he was killed.

The driver of the Stratus, a 33-year-old Salem woman, had to be cut out of her vehicle and was taken to Salem Hospital in serious condition, but she was expected to survive, police said.

An area resident first alerted police that his Mustang had been stolen from his home on Park Avenue. Then, about fifteen minutes later, police got the call to respond to the head-on collision on Mission Street, close to the home where the car had been stolen from.

Witnesses in the area at the time of the crash said the Mustang was speeding when the driver lost control and crossed into the opposite lanes of traffic.