High-speed chase ends in Louisiana
Published 7:02 pm Thursday, June 20, 2019
A Rankin County man led U.S. Marshals, Warren County sheriff’s deputies, Vicksburg police and Mississippi Highway Patrol troopers on a high-speed chase on Interstate 20 that ended in Louisiana when he wrecked his car between Mound and Delta, La.
Carlos Cosby, supervisory investigator for the U.S. Marshal’s office in Jackson, said Kenara McDavid, a fugitive who was wanted for drug and assault charges in Rankin County, was being held in the Madison Parish, La., Jail.
He said McDavid faces multiple charges in Madison Parish as a result of the chase.
Delta, La., Marshal David Beckham said McDavid was taken to Madison Parish Hospital for treatment of cuts on his hands and a complaint of shortness of breath.
Among the charges filed against McDavid in Louisiana are two counts of aggravated assault for reportedly hitting Beckham’s and a marshals’ car, resisting arrest, possession of a Class IV drug, possession of marijuana in a vehicle, suspended driver’s license and an expired car tag.
Cosby said the marshals had been looking for McDavid, who was wanted on multiple felony drug charges from Rankin County including prescription fraud and assault on a law enforcement officer.
He said the chase began when deputy marshals spotted a car driven by McDavid in Jackson. When they attempted to stop him, he fled.
“We made multiple attempts to pull him over, then we had to ask assistance,” Cosby said. “We were calling different agencies as we were going down 20 West. We were calling Vicksburg PD, Warren County Sheriff’s Office and the Mississippi Highway Patrol.”
Sheriff Martin Pace and two deputies joined the pursuit when McDavid’s Toyota crossed the Warren County line, and Vicksburg police joined in the city. The chase carried across the Mississippi River Bridge into Louisiana, where Beckham and Madison Parish deputies joined in.
Pace said he, the deputies and police joined the chase about 11:30 a.m.
“As we entered the state of Louisiana, the Delta Town Marshal’s Office and the Madison Parish Sheriff’s office took over the lead on the pursuit,” he said, adding that after the chase entered Louisiana the Warren County units stayed back for support.
McDavid, he said, took the Mound exit and “looped around,” heading eastbound on Interstate 20, wrecking his car at the 185 mile marker eastbound between Mound and Delta.
Beckham said during the chase in Louisiana, McDavid “was moving around, trying to get us to wreck.”
When he went on the Mound exit to go back east, Beckham said, McDavid was driving in the wrong lane of the overpass and later got in the right lane.
“He was headed back east to Mississippi when he wrecked his car,” Beckham said. “He went off road to the right, which was the shoulder side, spun, went into the median and then came back out into my unit. He hit me and was facing the wrong way and trying to leave when the U.S. Marshals hit him head-on to stop him.”
Beckham said he moved behind the Toyota to stop McDavid and he was taken into custody.