Suspect in custody, 1 dead after Arkansas chase ends in fiery crash in Mississippi
UPDATE: The suspect in this chase has been identified and charged. See new story.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (WREG) — One person is dead, and another is in custody following a police chase that started in Arkansas and ended in Mississippi on Wednesday, according to the Crittenden County Sheriff’s Department.
The police pursuit started on I-55 north of Marion, Arkansas, where law enforcement officers chased the suspect into Hernando, Mississippi, and ended in a fiery crash.
During the chase, law enforcement officers said that they used stop sticks to get the suspect’s vehicle to stop. The suspect’s vehicle then drove his car into oncoming traffic, colliding head-on with a semi-truck on I-55.
Milynda Richardson said she was driving down the interstate when she noticed cop cars speeding past her and pulling out stop sticks.
She said she pulled over to get out of the way seconds before the chaos broke out.
“I looked behind me in my rearview mirror and there was a white truck coming and there were several police officers behind him. And he got up there, he hit the stop sticks, flipped, and the semi was coming and they collided and it was just an explosion of black smoke,” she said. “It was just like black smoke and fire and I could hear crackling.”
The Marion Police Department said the suspect was taken into custody on charges related to offenses that happened in DeSoto County and transported to the hospital.
The driver of the semi-truck did not survive.
“Why are people so stupid to run from police because it’s going to end in a bad way for not only them but innocent bystanders,” Richardson said.
Law enforcement officers say they began chasing the suspect after a domestic violence incident between a man and woman, who are both from Wisconsin.
According to the Marion Police Department, the woman had a no-contact order against the man. She was reportedly driving down I-55 north of Marion when the man started ramming her car causing her to hit a concrete wall.
All northbound lanes were blocked on I-55 and I-69 south of exit 283B as law enforcement conducted their investigation and cleared the scene.
The investigation remains active and ongoing through the Marion Police Department and the Hernando Police Department.
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