Cross-county chase ends with 5 cops, 4 police departments
LEITCHFIELD, KY (WAVE) - A car chase on Thursday between a convicted felon and police crossed three counties and involved four agencies.
At 4:12 p.m. on Thursday, Grayson County Central Dispatch received multiple calls of a reckless driver on the Western Kentucky Parkway near the Clarkson exit.
Police received additional information that the suspect, Eric Howard, 29, might also be armed with a handgun, the Grayson County Police Department said.
Grayson County Sheriff's Deputies caught up with the car around the 95 mile marker.
The car stopped on the Caneyville exit ramp, where Deputy Norder asked him to place both hands out the window, police said.
Howard refused to put both of his hands up, then suddenly drove away and the pursuit was on.
The chase continued through Caneyville on KY-79 and then through Short Creek, where officers Eugene Cain and Sheriff Norman Chaffins joined the pursuit.
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Sheriff Chaffins took the lead in the chase. Chaffins was driving a Dodge Ram 1500, which was the best vehicle to chase the suspect's SUV, police said.
Howard continued driving at speeds between 45-75 mph northbound on KY-79 through the Falls of Rough area of Breckinridge County, with a trail of police cars behind him.
Breckinridge County Police were alerted to the situation coming their way and took action.
Breckinridge County Sheriff Todd Pate set up on the north side of Rough River Dam with spike strips, police said. Spike strips are a tool law enforcement use to slowly deflate the tires of a fleeing vehicle.
Sheriff Pate was set up in a perfect location, since Howard's car had to slow down to negotiate the curve at the dam.
The tires deflated slowly, then abruptly flew off the suspect's vehicle, police said.
Howard continued trying to evade police, driving without tires on the metal rims, until he ran off the road into a ditch.
He then placed both hands out of the window, as police initially requested, and surrendered without further incident.
A loaded handgun was found in the open console of Howard's car after he was arrested.
Police said in a statement that they suspect Howard did not show his right hand at the initial stop because he was waiting for Deputy Norder to approach the car, then sped away when he realized Norder was not.
Howard was charged with fleeing and evading in the first degree, wanton endangerment in the first degree, possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, carrying a concealed deadly weapon, driving under the influence (third offense), driving on a DUI suspended license (first offense) and multiple traffic offenses. He was lodged in the Grayson County Detention Center.
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