On Saturday, July 20th, a Chattooga County Deputy and a few Trion Police officers were conducting a safety check on Old Highway 27 when a silver Altima approached and acted like it was slowing down for the stop but immediately sped up and turned om Thomas Drive. A officer on scene yelled at the car to stop and was pointing to the vehicle when another deputy initiated his lights to pursue the vehicle.

When the deputy was directly behind the vehicle he called out the license plate numbers for identification, learning that the vehicle belonged to thirty-five-year-old Dustin Clark. The passenger of the vehicle at that time put their arms out the window to show what appeared to be a “giving up” gesture. The deputy continued pursuing the driver, reaching speeds of 75-115 mph. The deputy sped past the Altima to place his vehicle in front of Clark’s and they slowed to 35mph, but Clark maneuvered past the deputy and struck the patrol car in the process. They both continued north near the Dollar General where the Altima turned in and went airborne into the parking lot.

When Clark was exiting the parking lot he barely missed another vehicle in the process. Clark proceeded driving towards the Texaco gas station in Trion where he entered the parking lot and continued driving towards Lafayette. When they were near Corinth Road, Walker County deputies asked the Chattooga County deputy who was in pursuit of Clark to back off so they could attempt to put road spikes at the intersection of Highway 151 and 136.

Upon arriving at the intersection, the responding deputy saw Clark swerve towards a Walker County deputy, hit the road spikes and lose control of his vehicle wrecking it into the ditch. The deputy then asked Clark to get on the ground and he was then placed under arrest.