No arrest made in high-speed chase
Published 4:03 pm Friday, March 20, 2009
NATCHEZ — No arrests have been made in relation to Thursday’s high-speed chase that stretched from Sicily Island, La., to Wilkinson County.
Sicily Island Police Chief Paul Jackson said the incident began at approximately 10:30 p.m. Thursday night when one of his officers attempted to pull over a speeding vehicle.
Jackson said the vehicle, either a Ford Crown Victoria or a Lincoln Continental, was traveling 75 mph in a 55 mph zone.
“And he did not pull over,” Jackson said of the driver.
Jackson’s officer reported a substance he believed to be marijuana was thrown from the vehicle shortly after the chase began.
From there the speeding vehicle, occupied by two white males and one white female, sped through Clayton into Ferriday then Vidalia and crossed the Mississippi River bridge into Natchez.
By then officers from Sicily Island, Ferriday, Vidalia and Concordia Parish were in the pursuit.
Jackson said the driver of the vehicle is thought to be Jonathan Pittman, a St. Francisville, La., resident to whom the vehicle in the chase is registered.
Natchez Police Chief Mike Mullins said his officers primarily blocked traffic in the city, for safety reasons, and only stayed in the pursuit until the county line.
Jackson said his officers reported speeds of up to 110 mph during the chase.
“That’s not what we typically see,” he said.
Jackson said the chase was called off near Woodville for safety reasons.
The driver’s whereabouts once the chase was called off is not yet known.
Woodville Police Chief James Forman said the vehicle did pass through Woodville.
“He must have turned off,” Forman said.
The Wilkinson County Sheriff could not be reached for comment.
In St. Francisville, West Feliciana Sheriff’s Deputy Sara Ferguson said her office is aware of the chase and will arrest Pittman if any warrants are issued for his arrest.
As of Friday, no warrants had been issued.
Forman said the convoy arrived near Woodville at approximately 11 p.m.