Update 12:30 p.m.: Early Police Chief David Mercer stated that the driver of the maroon 2-door Thunderbird was believed to be driving while intoxicated and had committed a traffic violation in the 900 block of Early Blvd. Corporal Brandon McMillian began to follow the vehicle which accelerated to speeds of 70 mph in the 300 block of Early Blvd. The vehicle then turned north on Hwy 183 toward Rising Star, and continued traveling at speeds of 100 mph.
As the pursuit approached the county line, Eastland County Law Enforcement was notified of the vehicle approaching their county and entered the city limits of Rising Star at 8:40 p.m. driving on bare front wheel rims.
Mercer reported that the suspect vehicle then stuck an unoccupied 4 door pickup parked in a driveway in the 400 block of North Main Street in Rising Star. The Thunderbird then went under the pickup carrying it into the side of the house, Mercer said.
According to the report, officers quickly secured the suspect driver then checked for injuries in the residence. No one inside the house was hurt, and they were then removed from the house for safety said Mercer. Rising Star Fire Department and Eastland County EMS then had to use the jaws of life to extricate the driver from the vehicle.
Mercer reported that the driver had a strong odor of alcohol on him and that several open containers of alcohol were located inside the vehicle. Officers then identified the driver as 30-year-old Joshua Anthony Silvers of Santa Anna, California. Silvers was initially transported to the Eastland Hospital where a search warrant was obtained for a blood specimen. Silvers was later air-lifted to Hendricks Hospital in Abilene with a cervical fracture.
When interviewed, Slivers stated that he thought he had a warrant from California for domestic violence, reported Mercer. Silvers was found to have an outstanding warrant however it does not extradite out of the state of California. Silvers also had an alcohol ignition locking device. Warrants will be sought for Felony DWI and Felony evading arrest according to Mercer.
Original Story: A high speed pursuit on Monday night, involving multiple law enforcement agencies, began in Early and ended in Rising Star with an accident which injured the fleeing driver according to Brown County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the report, at approximately 8:22 p.m. Early Police officer Brandon McMillan initiated a traffic stop; however, the suspect vehicle did not yield for the stop but continued traveling north on Hwy 183 in Early at speeds between 80-100 mph. The EPD officer was joined in the pursuit by two Texas Department of Public Safety Troopers Molotsky and Hounshell.
Brown County Sheriff’s Deputy Kelly Marsh heard Officer McMillan’s radio traffic and responded from FM 2273 and County Road 422 and set up spike strips at the intersection of Hwy 183 and FM 2273.
Both of the vehicle’s front tires hit the spikes; however the vehicle continued north approximately 13 miles, eventually losing his tires and driving on only rims according to officers involved in the chase. The pursuit continued through the cities of May and Rising Star, where eventually the vehicle crashed into a yellow Ford pickup at a residence approximately four blocks north of the intersection of Hwy 183N and Hwy 36.
As a result of the accident the suspect driver was trapped in his vehicle and required extrication. According to law enforcement, the driver identified as 30-year-old Joshua Silvers of California was reported to have a neck injury and is being treated at a hospital in Abilene.
Photo contributed.
