REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. (WHNT) — A Madison man was arrested after he drove through a Redstone Arsenal gate and led authorities on a police chase.
On Sunday, January 11, an SUV traveling southbound on the northbound side of Rideout Road struck the catch net at Gate 9 but did not stop.
The gate guards alerted the Redstone police to respond to the gate runner. Then the Police tried to stop the vehicle; however, the 41-year-old driver, with no Arsenal affiliation, refused to quit.
Two police vehicles continued to chase the SUV southbound on Toftoy Throughway, according to Maj. Derek Campbell, operations officer for the Redstone Police Department.
When they reached Fowler Road, the vehicle turned left or east on Fowler and then stopped in the parking lot of the 5440 building.
“Sgt. Gates and Sgt. Gollop attempted a felony traffic stop at that point,” Campbell said. “In a criminal traffic stop, they draw their guns. As they holstered their guns, that’s when they noticed the 8-year-old boy. They saw his head sticking out of the back seat.”
The driver refused the police officers’ orders to get out of the vehicle.
“As they were trying to talk the driver out of the vehicle, he put the car back into drive and drove over several curbs and fled again,” Campbell said. “So, fearing for the child’s safety at this point, they continued the pursuit. The driver continued to flee. He was basically heading west on Fowler Road.”
The vehicle entered the area of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center.
A short time later, in a wooded area, four Redstone police vehicles were able to bring the vehicle in with their patrol cars. The officers approached the vehicle with their guns drawn on the driver.
According to Redstone Arsenal officials, the man put his SUV in reverse, nearly ran over an officer, and then got caught in a patrol car.
“He tried to drive forward, but he got stuck,” Campbell said. “So, they were giving him verbal orders to get out of the vehicle, but he didn’t want to. He continued not to comply, so the officers had to cut his windows. They used batons and emergency breakers.
“Eventually, the boy actually opened the door. And Sgt. Gates grabbed the boy to make sure he was safe. Once they got the boy to safety, Lt. Holder and Lt. Bowdoin were able to take the driver into custody.”
The man and his son had minor injuries from the impact with the net, and were taken to hospital. The boy was released to his mother. The 41-year-old driver is awaiting an appearance in US District Court. Campbell said the charges against him include attempting to flee and elude law enforcement, trespassing on a military installation, damage to government property, resisting arrest, and domestic violence (for causing injury to his son).
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