An early morning pursuit has led to a police investigation after the vehicle, which was tagged incorrectly, was found abandoned in central Salina.
Salina Police Captain Paul Forrester reported this morning that at 3:20 a.m. today an officer observed a maroon Chrysler Sebring in the 100 block of Baker Street. The license plate on the car came back as belonging to a 1999 Buick Park Avenue, so the officer attempted a traffic stop at the intersection of South Broadway Boulevard and West Walnut Street, he explained.
The vehicle drove northbound on South Broadway Boulevard and then went east on State Street and jumped the railroad tracks at State Street and West Place, at which point a pursuit was initiated with speeds at approximately 50 mph, Forrester noted. The vehicle then went south onto North 11th Street at approximately 55 mph, he added.
Forrester reported that the vehicle then went down the alley between the 200 block of South 11th Street and the 200 block of South 12th Street, but due to the dust and debris being kicked up, the officer lost sight of the vehicle. A short time later, a Saline County Sheriff's deputy located the vehicle abandoned in the 400 block of South 12th Street with the keys in the console, Forrester explained.
The vehicle was impounded and the investigation is ongoing, he noted.