By Brian Livingston
blivingston@themeridianstar.com
For a short time Friday afternoon, Lauderdale County Sheriff's Department authorities didn't know exactly what they had.
Initially deputies were on the lookout for a female driving southbound on Hwy. 19 North. Family members had asked the sheriff's department earlier Friday to look for her because the unidentified woman, who was traveling from Louisiana, had not arrived to her parents house Thursday night.
At about 4 p.m. a sheriff's deputy attempted a traffic stop on a vehicle matching that of the missing woman's. But when the deputy flashed his blue lights, the car sped away south on Hwy. 19 North into Meridian.
"There wasn't a white female driving the car but a black male," said LCSD Chief Dep. Ward Calhoun. "We began to wonder what had become of the owner of the car."
The chase entered Meridian and then turned back out north to Chandler Road off Hwy. 19 North. At the convergence of Pine Springs Road and State Boulevard, the driver lost control and flipped the car into a ditch. The car caught fire but the driver tried to stretch out his escape on foot. Deputies ran down the suspect and placed him into custody. The suspect, identified as Tommy Lee Parker, has now been charged with felony fleeing of law enforcement officers, suspended license, and failure to pay child support from an earlier warrant.
Firefighters from Suqualena Volunteer Fire and Rescue and the Meridian Fire Department responded to the wreck to extinguish the flames.
"Parker was able to tell us where the woman was and as it turned out she had allowed him to drive the car," said Calhoun. "She was found to be OK and unhurt at a residence north of Collinsville. Parker apparently didn't want to stop for the deputy because of the warrant and his not having a valid driver's license."
There were no injuries to Parker reported during the incident.
Local News
One arrested following vehicle chase
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Local law enforcement officials honored
State Rep. Greg Snowden said he remembered as a child looking up to those "men in blue."
He said police officers in uniform were larger than life, riding in their patrol cars and carrying guns to protect and serve the population. Today, he said he is still in great admiration of the men and women who put their lives on the line every day so that citizens can feel safe. -
MPD probes vehicle crash
Evidence of a mother's desperate attempt to save her children from harm were spread all over a car lot — and could be seen on her as well in the form of bruises, cuts and scrapes.
Tuesday night, a vehicle with three children inside crashed through a plate glass showroom floor window damaging four new cars and totaling the vehicle the children were in. -
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Mike Vick, public information officer with the Meridian Police Department, said the two men approached a woman about 8 p.m. Tuesday at the ATM of Regions Bank on North Hills Street. Vick said one of the suspects was armed with a handgun and after taking an undetermined amount of cash and the victim's car keys, the two suspects fled on foot. -
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The order, made during the Meridian City Council meeting Tuesday morning, included a mutual agreement between the councilmen and Watkins to reduce the project developer's monthly consultant fee of $10,000 to $1, effective Tuesday. -
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If you hear a loud, booming sound early today, between 4 a.m.-10 a.m., there is no cause for alarm.
Workers with Plantation Pipeline will be performing maintenance work on their 30-foot gasoline pipeline in the Meridian area to accommodate the widening of Highway 493. The location of the work activity will be at Highway 493 North and Oak Hill Baptist Church, just inside the city limits. -
Team Spirit
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High Honor
The flowers and balloons Crestwood Elementary School Principal Kimberly Kendrick received at school Monday were not an early Valentines' Day gift.
Kendrick has been named Meridian Public School District's 2012 Administrator of the Year – an announcement that both surprised and wowed the 17-year veteran educator when made by MPSD Superintendent Dr. Alvin Taylor. -
Master Dance Class
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Digital system promises better communication
Hopefully in the near future you won't hear someone in the emergency services ask over the radio, "Can you hear me now?"
A digital communications system, one which is being pushed by the Federal Communication Commission (FCC), is a few months away and, in some cases, is already in the testing phase in Lauderdale County. - More Local News Headlines
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