A Tallahatchie County man was flown to a Memphis hospital Monday night (Jan. 5) with injuries sustained in an auto crash after reportedly leading lawmen on a high-speed chase in parts of two counties.
Tallahatchie County Sheriff Jimmy Fly said Marqual Antavius Harris, 36, of 1285 Johnson Dr., Enid, was listed in critical condition Tuesday morning (Jan. 6) at The Med.
Harris was alone in a 2010 Ford F-150 pickup when it crashed at the intersection of Paul-Shady Grove and Tallaha roads at 8:23 p.m. Monday, Fly stated.
The sheriff noted that the man was a suspect in a breaking-and-entering and felony domestic violence incident in Montgomery County Monday evening.
Montgomery County officials issued an alert for area law enforcement to be on the lookout for Harris’ vehicle, and it was spotted by police in Grenada, Fly explained.
“From what I understand, Grenada Police Department saw the vehicle and got behind him, then the Grenada County Sheriff’s Office got involved,” he noted.
According to reports, Grenada units pursued Harris’ truck from Grenada to Holcomb on Highway 7, followed it westward on Highway 8 and then maintained the chase when it turned onto Highway 35 at Oxberry, with speeds clocked as high as 80 mph.
Lawmen lost sight of Harris’ vehicle after he sped from pavement onto gravel road in the hills of southeastern Tallahatchie County.
Grenada units called off their chase at about 8:15 p.m., but Tallahatchie County was aware of the search.
“[Harris] was on Paul-Shady Grove Road, and a Tallahatchie County deputy was in the area, saw him and tried to turn around and get behind him,” Fly said. Moments later, the Ford wrecked where Paul-Shady Grove Road dead-ends at its intersection with Tallaha Road, a few miles northwest of the Grenada County line.
Fly said the truck “couldn’t make the stop and the turn,” onto Tallaha, adding, “That stop sign will kind of sneak up on you if you’re driving normal.”
Due to the extent of Harris’ injuries, he was transported by ambulance from the crash site to the nearby Rosebloom Recreational Park, where a landing zone was established for a medevac helicopter.
Fly said multiple law enforcement units from Tallahatchie and Grenada counties were at the scene of the crash. And although the accident occurred on a rural road, a Mississippi Highway Patrol unit was called to the scene to write up the report because a county law enforcement vehicle was in pursuit when the wreck occurred, Fly explained.
A handgun was found in Harris’ truck, Fly said, and was taken into custody by Grenada County officials.
Fly said Harris is likely to face charges of felony domestic violence and breaking and entering in Montgomery County, as well as felony fleeing and possibly other charges in Grenada County.
Tallahatchie will not be filing charges, Fly noted.
"We're not going to charge him. We were just kind of there," said Fly. "We were in on the chase, but as soon as the deputy turned around on him is when he wrecked."
