By OLIVIA BERGMEIER
Lead Reporter
On Saturday, June 29, a Saline County Sheriff's Office deputy witnessed a 2005 Ford vehicle fail to stop at a stop sign. When the deputy conducted a traffic stop and approached the car, the driver took off, leading to a quick pursuit and crash into a curb.
Saline County Undersheriff Brent Melander said the deputy first saw the vehicle at 1:20 a.m. Saturday morning at the intersection of West Crawford and Custer streets. Once the driver sped away, the deputy called dispatch to request help.
"The deputy jumped back in his vehicle, notified dispatch and surrounding units of the chase and began to pursue the vehicle," Melander said.
The driver did not get far, only about a block away, where the car crashed into a curb and some vegetation near the road at 10 Tenlawns Place. Melander said the deputy reported that once the vehicle was no longer operational, the driver ran away from the car.
Deputies said the passenger did not run away, but through investigations, they found that 28-year-old Monica May, from Salina, allegedly had marijuana.
Through further investigations, Melander said that deputies found 25-year-old Salina resident Trenton Ponting as the vehicle's driver.
Salina Police Department (SPD) officers later located Ponting at the intersection of Crawford and Ninth streets and arrested him.
"Trenton was arrested for flee and elude, DUI, possession of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, failure to stopping at an accident, failed to yield to a stop sign and operation without driver's license," Melander said.
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