Four children are safe after Arkansas State Police (ASP) officers rescued them from an extremely dangerous situation on May 24.
The incident happened when an ASP trooper was trying to stop an SUV for a traffic violation in Camden. However, the officer’s attempts ended up in a high speed chase when the driver fled, THV 11 reported Friday, noting the trooper did not know there were children in the car as it reached over 100 miles per hour.
The trooper tried to perform PIT maneuvers, but those were unsuccessful. Dash camera footage showed the chase as the SUV sped down roadways and past other vehicles, at moments pulling into oncoming traffic.
When the driver lost control, the SUV went into a ditch, hit a pole, and flipped over several times before coming to a stop on its side.
“He’s crashed out,” a trooper was heard saying behind the camera. Power lines hung dangerously close to the vehicle, and one of the officers told another at the scene to watch out and not touch them or the car. However, the officer closest to the vehicle bent down and picked up a four-month-old baby that had been ejected from the vehicle, taking the child to safety across the road:
The three other children were heard crying inside the vehicle while a trooper assured them he was there to help and guided them out of the vehicle. One of the children had a cast on his arm, and the trooper carried him back to his vehicle and placed the boy on the hood to assess his condition.
“Let me see, does that hurt? How old are you?” he asked the child. He then took the boy in his arms and told him, “You’re okay, you’re okay.” The trooper was also seen holding the baby who rested calmly against his chest.
The children, who were all under the age of six, were taken to a hospital to be treated for minor injuries and authorities contacted their mother.
The man who had been behind the wheel was identified as 28-year-ol Tyrice Fletcher, a convicted felon.
The slew of charges leveled against him included felony fleeing, possession of a defaced firearm, possession of firearm by certain persons, four counts of endangering the welfare of minor, criminal mischief, possession of a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, four counts of no child passenger restraint, reckless driving, no driver’s license, no seatbelt, and improper passing on the left, the THV 11 article said, noting police found illegal marijuana inside the SUV.
ASP has defended their pursuit policies noting the danger to the children stemmed from the suspect’s choice to flee when officers were trying to stop him, KATV reported.
“As a father, I cannot fathom a parent making the decision to drive recklessly, much less flee from law enforcement, with their children in the vehicle. We have had a couple of pursuits recently that have rightfully appalled our Troopers and the public. I thank God the children were not injured. We feel compelled to take action to stop suspects from risking the lives of innocent children by fleeing,” Col. Mike Hagar stated.
In a social media post on Friday, ASP said Hagar was calling on parents and caregivers to first consider the safety of their children when they are being pulled over.
When speaking of the chase, Hagar told KATV, “It’s disgusting behavior for somebody to put their own children in such a dangerous situation.”
“There needs to be conversations taking place at home, in our places of worship, in the community to where this behavior is absolutely condemned,” he added.
