We now have more details on the man involved in a high speed chase that went into three counties over the weekend.
Harvey County Sheriff T. Walton tells us it started on U-S 50 around 3:40 a-m, in his county when the vehicle driven by 21-year-old David Atherton of Carl Junction, Missouri drove past a deputy at 81-miles per hour in a 65-mile zone. The deputy then began to try to stop the individual, but he then sped up. It entered Reno County where a deputy here tried to use stop sticks but he avoided them. The chase then went onto K-61.
The Pratt County Sheriff’s Office, at around 4:00 a-m, were called to assist. The suspect entered Pratt County at a speed of approximately 120-mph. A Pratt County Sheriff’s unit was able to deploy stop sticks on the vehicle approximately 7-miles north of Pratt and another Pratt County Sheriff’s Unit got the vehicle with stop sticks approximately 4-miles north of Pratt. It took out three of four of his tires.
Shortly after the last set of stop sticks was down, the vehicle was forced off the road by a Pratt County Sheriff’s Deputy and Atherton was taken into custody. A passenger in the vehicle was released without any charges.
There were no injuries to officers or the suspect. The suspect was taken into custody by the Harvey County Sheriff’s Office on various charges and was transported back to Harvey County.
Potential charges include felony flee and elude, reckless driving, an aggravated weapons violation because he had a 12-gauge shotgun in the vehicle with him. He was also charged with attempting to flee stop sticks, possession of synthetic marijuana and drug paraphernalia. There is also a parole hold out of Missouri. He has a conviction involving drugs in that state.
All of the local charges will be prosecuted in Harvey County including any from Reno and Pratt Counties.