VIDEO: I-40 Pursuit Ends After Spike Strip Deployment in St. Francis County

ST. FRANCIS COUNTY, Ark. — A high-speed pursuit on Interstate 40 ended early June 21 after an Arkansas State Police trooper deployed spike strips and the driver later surrendered, according to an ASP incident report.

Troop D communications advised at about 12:35 a.m. that St. Francis County deputies were pursuing a pickup truck eastbound on I-40 near the 240-mile marker. The vehicle was described as a custom-built silver Chevrolet with a Mississippi license plate.

Deputies reported the pickup was traveling 90 to 100 mph, passing other vehicles on the shoulder and brake-checking pursuing deputies, according to the report.

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Trooper First Class Dairren Evans positioned his patrol unit in the median near the 263-mile marker and placed spike strips on the right shoulder of the eastbound lanes. At about 12:46 a.m., the pickup moved onto the shoulder and hit the spike strips, which made contact with both front tires, according to the report.

The pickup later slowed in the grassy median and stopped. Two people wearing black clothing exited from the driver’s side door and ran northeast across the interstate into a tree line near several houses, the report said.

Several law enforcement agencies responded, including Arkansas State Police, Arkansas Highway Police, the St. Francis County Sheriff’s Office and Homeland Security. A perimeter was established, and the driver, identified as Tyrese Bowers, 26, surrendered after coming out of a wood line with his hands raised, according to the report.

Bowers admitted to officers that he was the driver of the vehicle and had the key fob in his pants pocket, the report said.

Officers searched for the second person using a Forrest City Fire Department thermal drone, an Arkansas Highway Police K-9 and searches of abandoned or unsecured structures in the area, but the passenger was not located. During the K-9 track, authorities found a handgun in the same area where Bowers had emerged from the tree line, according to the report.

Bowers and the handgun were turned over to St. Francis County deputies. The report estimated damage to the vehicle’s two tires at $800.

All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.