Two arrested after high-speed chase ends near WaKeeney
Published on -8/29/2010, 6:09 PM
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By DAWNE LEIKER
A West Virginia man and woman are being held in the Ellis County jail after leading Ellis County law enforcement officers on a high-speed chase Wednesday afternoon on Interstate 70.
According to Ellis County Undersheriff Bruce Hertel, officers pursued the suspects at speeds in excess of 100 mph through a construction zone on I-70 and apprehended them near WaKeeney exit 128 after the suspects' car side-swiped a Kansas Highway Patrol vehicle.
Arrested were Christopher D. Wilson, 33, Fayetteville, W.Va., and Tia L. Bolen, 24, Scarborough. W.Va.
After a gas skip in Gorham was reported to the Ellis County Sheriff's Office around noon, an Ellis County patrol officer spotted the suspect's vehicle which was described as a stolen white Mitsubishi Eclipse with North Carolina plates, driven by a white male with a white female passenger at 12:50 p.m.
The suspect's vehicle was headed westbound on I-70. The officer, who had been driving east, passed the suspect's vehicle at milepost 145, west of Ellis.
The suspect increased speed when the officer changed directions to follow him.
"The vehicle cut through some traffic cones in the closed lane," Hertel said. "At one time, he went into the ditch to avoid some vehicles and try to get away."
Stop sticks had been laid at WaKeeney exit 128, where the suspect turned off I-70, flattening two of his tires on the left side. Still fleeing at a high rate of speed, the suspect's vehicle then side-swiped a Kansas Highway Patrol car. The officer in the car was uninjured.
Turning into a convenience store parking lot, the suspect continued at a high rate of speed, and his vehicle jumped the curb at Western Co-op and became airborne. At that time, the vehicle became stuck in a field and not drivable, Hertel said.
The suspects then exited the vehicle, running on foot, and were apprehended by law enforcement officers. Both suspects reported injuries and were transported to Trego County-Lemke Memorial Hospital in WaKeeney. They were released to Ellis County law enforcement, where they await charges.
