An Indianola man is in custody after leading police on a high-speed chase through the city that resulted in a three-vehicle crash on U.S. 82. At least one person had to be airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Police arrested Edwin Sims 25, 116 Stonewall Drive and charged him with felony fleeing and several other traffic violations.
Sims made his initial appearance before Judge Kuykendall Murry on Tuesday and his bond was set at $10,000 with the stipulation that he commits no new crimes or the amount could be revoked. His preliminary hearing date is set for Nov. 13 at 3 p.m.
Murry said new guidelines allow bond amounts for this type of crime to be set as high as $100,000, however, Sims had no prior arrests or criminal record. He could get between 3 and 20 years in prison if convicted.
According to Indianola Chief Edrick Hall, the incident began at a Dollar General store in Greenville where Sims allegedly stole a then undetermined amount of beer from a Mitchell Distributing truck making a delivery to the store. It was later discovered that he got away with $960 worth of merchandise.
Hall said Sims reportedly pulled alongside of the truck and began loading cases of Corona, Budweiser and other brands of beer and alcoholic beverages into a grey Tahoe while the driver of the truck was inside of the store and then hurriedly left the scene.
A Mitchell Distributing employee saw Sims and gave chase and then called the law enforcement authorities to let them know they were following the suspect. He said Leland police were notified however; Hall said the employee was told that Sims had already passed through that area.
Indianola police dispatchers reportedly received a call at 9:24 a.m., that the grey Tahoe was heading east on U.S. 82 towards Indianola at a high speed with stolen merchandise. And while on patrol in the area of the Indianola Country Club, an officer met the SUV heading east on Westside Avenue travelling at 70 mph in a 35 mph zone.
The officer turned around and followed and attempted to stop the vehicle using blue lights and sirens, but the driver refused to stop and ran through a stop sign at Alexander Street and Westside, almost hit another police unit and eventually crossed over into the parking lot of Fish Alley. He then turned north onto Church Street and at that point they temporarily lost sight of the vehicle.
When the police got to Second Street, they spotted the Tahoe heading east on Main Street where it turned north onto Moody Avenue. Still traveling at a high rate of speed the SUV ran through the stop sign at Gresham Street and then barreled through the stop sign at the intersection of Moody and U.S. 82 where it struck a grey Nissan Altima and a black Chevrolet Malibu traveling on the highway.
At least two people were injured and the impact left debris scattered over the roadway. Police reported seeing a clear liquid pouring from the Tahoe after it collided to a halt and noted the smell of beer as they approached it.
The Indianola fire department was called in due to a possible fuel spill, but Chief Orlando Battle said it was “just beer.”
The accident caused traffic in the east and westbound lanes of U.S. 82 to be halted and backed up for at least a mile in both directions for more than 30 minutes. The incident is still under investigation.
