By Linda Taaffe

A Los Altos motorist who allegedly had escaped Santa Clara police trying to pull him over for speeding moments earlier died when his car crashed into a telephone pole at 1:20 a.m., Thursday in Santa Clara. The impact nearly cut the vehicle in two, police said.

Taylor Scott Anderson, 22, was taken to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, where he died a few hours later, police said. By Friday morning, a shrine of flowers overflowed the site of the accident on Monroe Street in Santa Clara as friends paid tribute to the longtime Los Altos resident.

Santa Clara police were still investigating the accident Monday morning.

Police said Anderson was driving a blue 2004 Subaru WRX northbound on Monroe Street when his car crossed into the opposite traffic lanes and hit a wood telephone pole in a residential neighborhood.

Police were searching for Anderson’s blue Subaru when they received a call that the vehicle had hit a pole, a spokesman said.

Anderson’s family has received conflicting accounts as to the events of that evening and are continuing their investigation, said Anderson’s mother Mary. “I don’t know why they just didn’t take his license plate number and contact him later at home. They have painted him to be a criminal, and that is just horrifying to me,” Mary said.

Police said Anderson allegedly had been speeding through the area before the crash.

A police sergeant first spotted Anderson driving more than 70 mph on Lawrence Expressway, according to a police report. The sergeant said he decided it was not safe to pursue the Subaru at such high speeds.

Another officer saw Anderson speeding near Bowers Avenue. Anderson sped away, according to a police account released Friday.