Multi-County Pursuit of Stolen Vehicle From Jonesboro Ends Just Shy of Greene County Tech Main Campus, Sheriff’s Office Vehicles Damaged
Just before school dismissal at GCT this afternoon, our department was notified of a pursuit entering Greene County from Craighead County. The pursuit entered Greene County on Hwy 228 at the Lawrence County line. The pursuit turned eastbound on Highway 412, headed toward Paragould.
As the suspect vehicle continued eastbound into Paragould, an attempt was made to prevent the suspect vehicle from getting to GCT’s school traffic. Units from the sheriff’s office and the Paragould Police Department fanned out across the intersection at 72nd St, Hwy 412, and the Highway 412 bypass in an attempt to force the suspect vehicle to turn onto the bypass and avoid the soon to happen bus dismissal at GCT. Seeing the strong police presence, the suspect went off-road just west of N. 72nd St. The suspect was able to re-enter the highway at 72nd St and proceed eastbound toward GCT. Just before GCT, the suspect vehicle left the highway and attempted to evade law enforcement by driving in the back yards of the homes just west of the GCT Administration building. As the suspect made that maneuver, a GCT School Resource Officer attempted to turn into the driveway to pursue and hopefully assist in terminating the pursuit before it re-entered the school zone. In doing so, the SRO did not see me in his blind spot and turned left into my path. Both my unit and the SRO’s unit were disabled. I would like to commend Arkansas Highway Police Officer Clairday for being in the right place at the right time, as he was able to safely end the suspect’s deadly driving in one of the back yards. Officer Clairday potentially saved numerous lives of school children and other motorists.
The Greene County Sheriff’s Office considers the safety of our residents and our children of utmost importance, and we will do what is necessary to ensure that protection. While we have two units damaged, the important thing is that no major injuries resulted to any party involved in this incident. The Paragould Police Department is investigating the crash involving our units.
At this time, I will yield to the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office regarding the identity of the suspect and all charges that will result from this incident.
- Sheriff Brad Snyder
