Kristofer Allen. Photo courtesy Saline County Sheriff's Office
A 22-year-old Salina man was arrested Sunday after leading law enforcement personnel on two separate high speed chases over the weekend.
Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester said Monday that just before 8 p.m. Friday, an officer at the intersection of South Broadway Boulevard and West Crawford Street observed a northbound dark-colored passenger car with a temporary tag and without its lights on making a left turn onto West Crawford Street. The officer initiated a traffic stop and the car stopped in the 700 block of Cherokee Drive, Forrester said.
As the officer got out of the patrol car, the suspect car took off south on Cherokee Drive and then turned right on Choctaw Avenue, heading back to West Crawford Street at speeds of up to 60 mph, he said. The car then headed west on West Crawford Street, and as it crossed Interstate 135 (I-135, it accelerated to 95 mph, Forrester said. At that point, the officer terminated pursuit, he added.
Then, at 1:57 a.m. Sunday, an officer spotted a 2006 black Nissan Altima with a 60-day tag traveling southbound in the 600 block of South Fifth Street, Forrester said. The vehicle turned west onto West Crawford Street with the officer following, he said. The officer attempted to make a traffic stop at West Crawford Street and Whittinghill Avenue, but the Altima accelerated to speeds in excess of 80 mph and continued west on West Crawford Street, Forrester said. He added that the officer terminated pursuit in the 2700 block of West Crawford Street, which is just west of I-135.
Shortly thereafter, a Saline County Sheriff's deputy picked up the pursuit until the driver lost control and went into the ditch in the 4000 block of West Crawford Street, Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan said Monday. The car became stuck in the ditch and had to be towed from the scene, he added.
Soldan said that Kristofer Allen, 22, of Salina, who was not injured, was arrested on suspicion of the following.
Flee and elude
Possession of methamphetamine
Possession of marijuana
Possession of drug paraphernalia
Driving while suspended
Speeding