Selma to Montgomery high speed chase ends in crash

Published 1:26 pm Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Eighteen-year-old Traquan Ladere Smith and three juveniles have been arrested after leading law enforcement officers from Selma to Montgomery Tuesday on a high-speed chase.

Smith was charged with first-degree theft and three counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Two of the juveniles were charged with attempting to elude a law enforcement officer and first-degree theft, while the other juvenile was charged with just first-degree theft.

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Smith was booked into the Dallas County Jail on a $250,000 bond, and the juveniles were being held in the Juvenile Detention Center.

According to Lt. Curtis Muhannad, the chase started on U.S. Highway 80 East after a bystander followed them from Bama Motors around 10:39 a.m.

“Witnesses advised that they saw a gray Mustang with four black males in it pull up near the dealership, and one of the occupants got out and took [a Ford Edge,]” Muhannad said. “The suspects stopped at Southern Pantry on the south side of the Edmund Pettus Bridge. Another black male got out of the Mustang and got into the Edge and both vehicles drove off.”

Officers attempted to pull the vehicles over, Muhannad said, but they failed to comply.

The chase reached speeds above 110 miles per hour, according to Muhannad.

The Mustang, which was driven by Smith, was pulled over in Lowndes County.The chase, which stretched nearly 50 miles, finally ended after the SUV crashed into a gas pump at a Chevron across from the Montgomery Regional Airport. One of the juveniles was transported to a hospital to be treated for injuries and was later transported back to Selma.

According to Muhannad, the Mustang was reported stolen from Montgomery, along with a Toyota that was found wrecked on Kings Bend Road.

The Selma Police Department, Dallas County Sheriff’s Department, Fourth Judicial Circuit Drug Task Force and Alabama State Troopers were involved in the chase.