Updated: Man steals police cruiser, leads high-speed pursuit, crashes in Lexington
A Monticello man stole a police cruiser from the Monticello Police Department and then led Kentucky State Police on a high speed chase that ended with a collision in Lexington Saturday afternoon.
The man was arrested after a foot chase on the interstate. He was later identified as 22-year-old Chase A. Jackson.
Kentucky State Police said they learned that the man had taken the marked Monticello cruiser, a Dodge Durango SUV, and was headed northbound on Interstate 75 Saturday afternoon. A trooper spotted the cruiser near mile marker 86, and a pursuit ensued that reached speeds of about 115 mph.
The stolen cruiser got off the interstate at Exit 104 in Lexington and turned right onto Athens Boonesboro Road, then drove through a Shell parking lot before colliding with a state police cruiser on a service road adjacent to the Spearmint Rhino Gentlemen’s Club, police said.
The driver got out and ran through a tree line and back down onto northbound I-75 before he was apprehended at about 4:15 p.m. by state police and officers with the Lexington Police Department who had also responded to the scene.
State police said there were no injuries. Jackson was charged with evading police, reckless driving, speeding 26 miles per hour or more over the speed limit, receiving stolen property worth $10,000 or more, two counts of wanton endangerment, two counts of receiving a stolen gun and evading police on foot, according to state police. He was taken to the Madison County Detention Center.
Monticello police did not immediately respond to a request for information about how the man stole the cruiser.
Herald-Leader reporter Jeremy Chisenhall contributed to this story.
This story was originally published November 6, 2021 at 5:48 PM.
