Highway patrol vehicle pursuit ends in Dyer County

The driver of a vehicle stopped in Obion County led Tennessee Highway Patrol officers and Dyer County Sheriff's Department officers on a chase that ended in Dyer County on Thanksgiving Day. The car, a 1992 Cadillac El Dorado, was stopped just south of Troy on U.S. Highway 51 at approximately 4:30 p.m. on Thursday. The pursuit ended half an hour later.

Trooper Kevin Seaton, with the Obion County THP, initiated the stop. According to the THP, the car was traveling 72 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour speed zone, and the driver - Anthony Dewayne Currie of Paducah, Ky. - was observed not wearing a seat belt.

Trooper Doug Robertson, of the Dyer County THP, joined the pursuit once the vehicle crossed the Dyer County line.

"I was the support vehicle; I wasn't the lead vehicle," said Robertson.

The pursuit led the THP officers off U.S. Highway 51 onto U.S. 412. Currie then took the first exit off U.S. 412 and turned left onto St. John Avenue Ext.

"The pursuit was terminated at Thomas Avenue and Fair Street in the Bruce community," said Robertson.

Two black males were observed exiting the vehicle once it stopped. The driver, Currie, ran in a southerly direction and the unidentified passenger ran in a northerly direction, according to the THP report.

"We stopped the vehicle and they fled," Robertson said. "Of course, our primary concern was getting the driver."

Officers did apprehend the driver and still are looking for the passenger. Currie, 29, is being held in the Dyer County Jail. He faces the following charges: failure to appear, two counts of reckless endangerment, unlawful possession of a weapon, driving under the influence, violation of implied consent law, reckless driving, evading arrest, traffic control device, and assault.

Currie will appear in court on Nov. 29 for his failure to appear charge, on Nov. 30 for his reckless endangerment charges and his unlawful possession of a weapon charge, and on Jan. 13, 2005, for the remaining charges.