Fire call leads to pursuit

Hayti Police officers report that on Sept. 17 at 11:55 a.m. they responded to a residence grassfire at the 100 Block of East Lincoln Street. Upon arrival officers learned that a 48 year old man of Hayti had unlawfully entered the residence and was bringing property from inside the residence to the yard and setting it on fire.

At that time officers attempted to apprehend the subject who had fled to a small wooded area along the railroad tracks at the intersection of West Highway 84. Officers were able to corner and subdue the subject in the wooded area.

The suspect was placed in the passenger front seat of the police cruiser with hands cuffed in the back. The suspect managed to manipulate the hand cuffs from the back to the front. He then locked the officers out of the patrol vehicle and managed to get in the driver’s seat. At that time, the suspect put the vehicle in reverse and fled west bound on Highway 84 towards the Hayti Heights area with officers in pursuit. After a brief high speed pursuit the suspect turned right onto North Martin Luther King drive near the 200 Block where he bailed out and managed to get away from officers.

With the assistance of Caruthersville Police Chief Tony Jones, the suspect later turned himself in. He was taken to the Pemiscot Memorial Hospital Emergency Room where he was treated for minor injuries before being taken to the Justice Center where he was held on a 24 hour investigative hold pending the filing of formal charges with the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.