Motorists west and eastbound on Interstate 20 encountered about an hour’s delay Tuesday around lunchtime due to an oversized load being transported from Louisiana to Hinds County.

Mississippi Department of Transportation spokesman Carrie Adams said the load was a control mechanism for a gas pipeline and, though it was headed east, had to cross the Mississippi River in the westbound lanes of I-20 as the load was too tall to fit beneath the bridge’s overhead superstructure in the eastbound lanes.

Among those held up by the delays was a Vicksburg man who attempted to flee Vicksburg Police after allegedly stealing 10 packages of steak and clothing from the Wal-Mart SuperCenter on U.S. 61 South.

Lt. Davey Barnette said a police officer happened to be in the Wal-Mart parking lot around 1 p.m. when a clerk came running out of the store yelling for police shortly after the man left the store. The man, who was driving an early 1990s model Cadillac with Louisiana plates and was accompanied by a woman, refused to stop for the officer in the parking lot.

He then led police on a chase north on U.S. 61, and then merged onto I-20 — where various law enforcement agencies had set up a roadblock for the pipeline mechanism being transported. 

“They just happened to pick the wrong time of the day to do this,” said Barnette. “They had Louisiana State Troopers and Vicksburg Police right in their path.”

The man apparently weaved around the roadblock, and led authorities on about a 10-mile chase into Louisiana, eventually pulling off I-20 at the Mound exit. Inside his car police recovered packages of ribeye, T-bone and New York strip steaks along with various baby and men’s clothing.

Identified as Allen Bryant, 48, 4324 Common Circle, police discovered he also had an outstanding felony warrant in Warren County for uttering a forgery, said Lt. Bobby Stewart, stemming from an Aug. 28 incident in which Bryant allegedly attempted to cash a $600 check at a Regions Bank in Vicksburg.

Bryant remained in the Warren County Jail on the outstanding forgery warrant and a charge of felony eluding, said Stewart.

The woman who was in Bryant’s car during the chase was released without being charged, Stewart said, adding Wal-Mart did not wish to pursue shoplifting charges. 

Barnette said there were no traffic accidents or incidents resulting from the temporary roadblocks.

City man arrested for sale of marijuana

A Vicksburg man was released from the Warren County Jail Tuesday after his arrest on drug charges.

Travis Arnold, 19, 9150 Freetown Road, was arrested at the Vicksburg Police Department headquarters on charges of selling marijuana, said Sgt. Sandra Williams.

He was released from the jail on a $5,000 bond after his arrest at 9:34 p.m.

Williams said the arrest stemmed from an investigation in August.

Two auto burglaries reported in Vicksburg

A CD player valued at $150 was reported stolen Tuesday at 8:37 a.m. from a blue 1998 Saturn parked at River Region West, 1111 N. Frontage Road.

Separately, a purse containing credit cards, a driver’s license, $5 and a Social Security card were reported missing Tuesday at 4:44 p.m. from a 2007 Chevrolet Impala parked by valet Sunday at Rainbow Casino, 1380 Warrenton Road.