By J.P. Hervis, WLBT News (Mississippi)
Police say the driver of the car they chased early Thursday morning had cocaine in his blood stream. Investigators are trying to put the pieces together. The car chase brings about questions on police procedure.
It started at an undisclosed location in Brandon. Brandon Police say Tommy Vargas was traveling around 100 miles an hour on I-20 West with his lights off.
He wouldn’t stop when police tried to pull him over. The chase continued into Pearl. There, police used stop sticks which destroyed Vargas’ right front tire. But he continued on.
Around the Ellis Avenue exit things got even more dangerous when Vargas’ car crossed the median.
He was traveling west in the east-bound lanes of I-20.
Jackson Police spokesperson Robert Graham says his department was not part of the chase. But since the accident occured in Jackson, JPD investigators are on the case.
"(Vargas) veered into oncoming traffic lane causing a head on collision.”
The collision was with David Coon’s car. He died in the hospital hours later.
Vargas’ car finally stopped when he hit a bridge on the Lynch Street Extension overpass. The car chase ended, but Vargas tried to escape on foot.
He jumped out of his vehicle from I-20 down, more than 10 feet, onto Lynch Street. That jump finally stopped him.
“He reportedly broke both his legs,” says Graham.
Vargas was finally stopped blocks away from his home on South Mcraven Road.
Brandon and Pearl Police Officials refused an on camera interview. Instead they issued a joint press release describing what happened and why.
But that still leaves the question...was the pursuit of Tommy Vargas worth it?
Earlier this year, a state law regarding police pursuits was adopted. It made the penelty for fleeing police a felony. The law also mandated police departments to take pursuit training classes.
Hinds County State Representative Eric Fleming says he is sorry for what happned to Coon.
“I just think we need to give it (the law) time to work and allow these police officers time to be trained properly”.
It’s unclear whether pursuing officers followed proper procedure. What is clear, an innocent man is dead from this roughly 16 mile pursuit.
Brandon and Pearl Police say the State Highway Patrol was also involved in the chase.
Vargas faces several charges.
As of Thursday night, Vargas was at University Medical Center nursing his broken legs.