HOPE, ARKANSAS — Dash camera video released nearly three weeks after an October 12 tractor-trailer chase shows an Arkansas State Police sergeant firing a rifle from his moving patrol unit to shoot out both front tires of a truck that was running east on Interstate 30 at about 70 mph. The truck had struck an Arkansas Highway Police unit and a State Police unit during the pursuit.
The driver, Victor Joel Colon, 29, of Punta Gorda, Florida, remained in the Hempstead County Detention Center on Saturday, October 31, on a $150,000 bond. He is held on three counts of aggravated assault, fleeing, reckless driving, and leaving the scene of an accident. His first court date is November 4 at 9 a.m. As of Saturday, no felony case had been filed against him in Hempstead County Circuit Court.
The Chase
According to the State Police incident report, Troop G dispatch called at 10:44 a.m. to say Highway Police were chasing a white tractor-trailer west on I-30. The truck had fled from Highway Police in Saline County earlier in the day. Radio traffic indicates it had also been flagged earlier after being picked up on a camera in Clark County.
Highway Police tried to slow the truck by getting in front of it. Radio traffic indicates the driver kept trying to go around and tried to ram a unit. The truck took Exit 31 and turned onto North Hazel Street, where it sideswiped a Highway Police unit. It then turned onto Commerce Boulevard and headed back toward the interstate, getting on I-30 going east.
Trooper Adrienne Colvin became the lead unit, and Highway Police dropped out of the chase. Sgt. Kyle Peek became the second unit. The truck moved into the left lane and kept going east at 70 mph. Peek took his issued rifle from the passenger seat and decided to try to disable the front tires if he got a safe opportunity.
“Given the circumstances of the situation specifically that the driver was clearly not going to stop and had already shown he was not afraid to ram or damage a police unit during his flight I felt this was my only option to end the pursuit,” Peek wrote.
The Shots
Peek pulled up on the passenger side, rested his rifle on his side mirror, and fired three rounds at the front passenger tire, missing. He pulled back up and fired two more rounds, which hit. The tire went flat, but the driver kept going east at 70 mph in the right lane.
About four miles later, Peek moved up on the driver’s side. He fired three rounds at the front steer tire without disabling it, then five more that deflated it. That made 13 rounds in all.
The video shows the truck rolling down I-30 with its front tires coming apart before it pulls onto the grass shoulder, where troopers took the driver into custody. Photos posted with another upload of the video show the bent push bumper and crumpled front end of a Highway Police Chevrolet Tahoe, along with the truck’s shredded front tires. Spike strips had also been deployed. No injuries were reported over the radio during the chase.
Charges listed on a jail roster are preliminary and may change.
📸 Video courtesy of Arkansas State Police. Image(s) used under fair use for news reporting.
