(WICKLIFFE, Ky.) — A 23-year-old Shively man was taken into custody Sunday night after leading Kentucky State Police on a high-speed pursuit that wound through three Western Kentucky counties before ending when a trooper forced his vehicle off the road.
The chase began around 9 p.m. CST on March 8 when KSP Post 1 Trooper Max Dikin spotted a maroon 2012 Lincoln MKZ on N. 4th Street in Wickliffe with an equipment violation. When Dikin activated his emergency lights to pull the vehicle over, the driver refused to stop, instead speeding east out of town on KY 286.
The suspect led officers through Ballard County and into McCracken County along US Highway 62. Law enforcement twice attempted to end the chase using tire deflation devices — the first attempt, at the intersection of US 62 and North Gum Springs Road, failed. A second attempt at US 62 and Interstate 24 successfully flattened two of the vehicle’s tires.
The driver kept going anyway, merging onto I-24 into Marshall County on two flat tires. Near the 24-mile marker, Calvert City Police deployed a third tire deflation device, taking out the remaining two tires. Still, the vehicle pressed on — until KSP Trooper Connor Dunigan executed a legal intervention maneuver that sent the car off the roadway and onto an embankment, bringing the chase to an end.
The driver, identified as Damon L. Crawford, 23, was arrested without incident. He faces charges in both Ballard and Marshall Counties including first-degree fleeing or evading police, speeding, and reckless driving, along with additional traffic violations. Crawford was booked into the Marshall County Detention Center.
KSP Post 1 was assisted by the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office and the Calvert City Police Department.
