Whitmore wrecks patrol car during high-speed chase
A fugitive who rammed a sheriff’s vehicle while leading lawmen on a high-speed chase which spanned two counties faces a mountain of charges.
The suspect, Todd Alan Whitmore, 37, was arrested late Sunday night as he bolted from his disabled vehicle after it came to a stop on Baker Mountain Road in neighboring Van Buren County just short of where the Van Buren County sheriff had set up a roadblock.
Whitmore now faces charges including felony aggravated assault, resisting arrest, evading arrest, reckless endangerment with a vehicle, possession of drug paraphernalia, resisting stop and driving on a suspended license.
The chase began after deputy Jason Richardson topped a hill and found Whitmore’s vehicle stopped in the road. The deputy said the suspect gunned his engine as he pulled in behind him, trying to evade the officer.
The suspect then pulled into a driveway and turned off his lights once he had a slight lead on the pursuing deputy, hoping to give the lawman the slip. However, Richardson saw the suspect’s vehicle and pulled into the driveway behind him, prompting Whitmore to again gun his engine, this time heading through the front yard of someone’s home before making it back to the road.
Whitmore then got onto Highway 30 bearing toward Van Buren County as other officers joined the pursuit. Deputy Brad Myers, who joined the chase, said Whitmore veered toward him as they met on the highway, prompting the officer to swerve to avoid a collision.
The chase continued into Van Buren County with the suspect reportedly throwing on his brakes trying to get the officers to run into the rear of his vehicle. It was as he approached the Baker Mountain Road intersection he began experiencing problems as parts of his vehicle to begin flying off ‘ parts pursing officers had to avoid while continuing the chase.
The car came to a stop minutes later but not before Whitmore allegedly threw the dying vehicle in reverse and slammed into one of the sheriff’s cars as it pulled in to park behind him, the impact moving the cruiser back about six feet. Whitmore was snagged by deputy Myers after the fugitive vaulted two barbed-wire fences and tried to hide in the woods.
A subsequent investigation found Whitmore was driving on a suspended license, suspended for his non-payment of fines. Lawmen also found a plastic tube and a scale in his possession with a white powder residue leading to the drug paraphernalia charge.