Truck reported stolen in Lexington ends up at the bottom of pool after a pursuit
A truck being chased by law enforcement officers from Jessamine County crashed and sank to the bottom of a pool in Fayette County Saturday afternoon.
A deputy from the Jessamine County Sheriff’s Department was pursuing a pickup truck that had been reported stolen by Lexington police when the vehicle crashed into the Cumberland Hill pool on Rockbridge Road at Tates Creek Road, said Sgt. Daniel Schlernitzauer.
The driver, who was able to free himself from the submerged vehicle and swim to the edge of the pool, was taken to a hospital with what were thought to be minor injuries, he said.
The incident began after Jessamine County received a report from Lexington at 3:02 p.m., saying that a truck had been taken from a Speedway gas station on Richmond Road, Schlernitzauer said.
He said the victim’s phone was still inside the truck, and it allowed the vehicle to be tracked to the area of McDowell Road in the Tates Creek Estates mobile home park in Jessamine County.
Schlernitzauer said a deputy responded and got behind the truck on McDowell Road, but when he tried to make a traffic stop, the driver fled, heading back toward Lexington on Tates Creek Road.
The deputy pursued the truck for 1.9 miles until the driver turned onto Rockbridge Road in the Cumberland Hill subdivision, drove through some shrubs and crashed through a metal fence and into the pool at 3:32 p.m., Schlernitzauer said.
He said the pursuit lasted about three minutes and reached speeds of up to 70 miles per hour. Schlernitzauer said traffic was very light at the time.
He said the driver, identified as Thomas J. Bowling, 42, of Lexington, was able to get out of the truck and swim to the edge of the pool, where he was apprehended by the deputy.
Bowling will be charged with receiving stolen property and first-degree fleeing and evading, Schlernitzauer said.
Lexington police Lt. Daniel Truex said Lexington police “were not involved at all” in the pursuit, though they did respond to the scene after the crash.
This story was originally published March 21, 2020 at 6:25 PM.
