Pursuit results in two arrests

Officers with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department assisted the Mississippi Highway Patrol and Benton County Sheriff’s Department in making two arrests after a high speed pursuit, according to sheriff Kenny Dickerson.

Marshall County deputies were asked to help in intercepting a black, four-door sedan occupied by three suspects Saturday, June 5, around 10 a.m., according to Maj. David Cook.

The sedan was leaving Benton County and entering Marshall County on I-22. It exited the interstate at Holly Springs and continued north of the city where Marshall County deputies joined the pursuit at the Eddie Lee Smith Drive intersection with Highway 7 North, Cook said.

The sedan continued, leaving Highway 7 in the Hudsonville area where it traveled on Duck Pond Road to South Slayden Road and into the westbound lane of Highway 72 toward the Collierville, Tenn., area.

Officers with the Mississippi Highway Patrol deployed spike strips, deflating a front tire. Cook said the driver of the sedan crossed into the median and into the east bound traffic to avoid apprehension by law enforcement. As the sedan entered the area between Highway 302 and North Red Banks Road, the driver stopped the sedan, and the suspects fled, Cook said.

One person was quickly apprehended, and within 45 minutes a second suspect was taken into custody in a wooded area where the sedan left the road.

A third suspect remains at large.

Cook said an overheated flat tire ignited the sedan and caused a grass fire that was extinguished by firefighters with the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department.

The two suspects who were apprehended were taken to the Benton County jail where they were booked. Cook said the suspects may be charged in Marshall County as well.

After the fire was extinguished, multiple firearms were recovered from the sedan, Cook said. The incident is still under investigation by state law enforcement, Cook said.

The suspects were returned to Benton County because the driver of the sedan struck a Benton County vehicle during initial pursuit, Cook said.

He also thanked the sheriff department’s aviation unit, the Desoto County K-9 unit, and the law enforcement division of the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks for their assistance in the search.