CRITTENDEN COUNTY, Ark. — An Arkansas State Police trooper used a tactical vehicle intervention to end a pursuit on Interstate 40 early Oct. 9, sending a fleeing SUV into the left guardrail, according to an incident report.
Trooper First Class Dairren Evans wrote that he saw a dark-colored SUV traveling west near the 277-mile marker shortly after midnight. He said it was weaving through traffic at a high speed without its lights on. Evans said he could not get a radar reading because of traffic but later paced the SUV at more than 100 mph.
Pursuit Ends at Guardrail
Evans said he activated his emergency equipment near the 276-mile marker, but the driver continued west, passing vehicles on the right shoulder and weaving through traffic. The trooper said the driver swerved and braked as he tried several times to perform a tactical vehicle intervention, a maneuver used to stop a fleeing vehicle.
Evans wrote that he eventually spun the Ford Escape toward the left guardrail. The SUV struck the guardrail and stopped. The driver, identified in the report as Brandon M. Bourgeois of Memphis, Tennessee, got out and lay on the roadway. Evans said another trooper arrived before they took Bourgeois into custody.
Allegations After the Stop
The report alleges that Bourgeois grabbed Evans’ hands while being handcuffed, kicked the windows of the patrol vehicle and threatened to stab an officer. Evans wrote that Bourgeois said he had been using methamphetamine for several days. That statement is an allegation in the trooper’s report; the report does not include a toxicology result.
Bourgeois complained of pain and requested medical attention, according to Evans. An ambulance took him from the Crittenden County jail to Baptist Crittenden Hospital for evaluation. Evans wrote that Bourgeois declined to provide a urine sample and was booked into the Crittenden County Detention Center after the hospital cleared him.
The report lists charges of felony fleeing, first-offense drug-related driving while intoxicated, refusal to submit to a chemical test, reckless driving, speeding more than 15 mph over the limit, driving without lights at night, driving without liability insurance, obstructing governmental operations and second-degree terroristic threatening.
All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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