An incident that reads like a movie script happened in Martin County and resulted in an arrest.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Department put out a post Monday morning asking for the public’s help in a theft investigation. They described a white male who was seen taking articles from a disabled vehicle on West River Road. The vehicle’s owner had approached him and the suspect fled south in a truck.
Tuesday morning at 10:40-am, a caller told police they may have seen the suspect on Hickory Ridge Road. Three officers located the truck and attempted a traffic stop but the driver, later identified as 24-yaer-old Devan K. Nelson of Paoli, refused to stop and drove to County Farm Road where Martin County Sheriff Travis Roush had blocked an intersection. Nelson managed to get by and continued southwest on Hickory Ridge Road and then led police to 450 toward Shoals. While headed east on US 50 he tried to pass a semi in front of him, came face to face with a semi headed west. Nelson darted between the two but hit the eastbound truck and flattened a tire. Nelson continued into the RJ’s parking lot and drove through the pump area and then onto 150. Officers were able to box him in east of Boyd Hollow Road and the truck spun out. Nelson fled on foot into a creek and around a home, but Sherriff Roush, Sergeant Keith Keller and Captain Tony Dant caught him.
Nelson was jailed in Martin County for Resisting Law Enforcement in a Vehicle and on Foot, for Leaving the Scene of an Accident, and for Possession of Meth and Theft.
Martin County Sheriff Department Facebook Page