A red Chevrolet Corvette can be a head-turning piece of American engineering. With the right driver behind the wheel, it’s a machine that earns respect on the road and at car shows alike. But when a trooper with the Arkansas State Police spotted one heading north on Interstate 55 on the morning of June 15, the car wasn’t turning heads for the right reasons. It had a cover over its license plate, and a quick check revealed the registration had lapsed back in March. Not exactly a recipe for a quiet Sunday drive.
Trooper Arellano lit up his lights at around 8:22 a.m. near the 55-mile marker in Mississippi County. The Corvette did not slow. When the siren came on, smoke poured from the exhaust, and the car accelerated. Whoever was behind the wheel had clearly decided that a conversation with law enforcement was not on the morning agenda, and the Corvette did what they do best when someone puts their foot down: it moved.
According to the Arkansas State Police incident report, the trooper’s radar clocked the vehicle at over 150 mph during the pursuit, with a high of 156 mph. That’s not a speed you’ll find posted on road signs in Arkansas, and it made for a tense chase northbound through the state. The situation crossed into Missouri, where Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers had positioned themselves near the 4-mile marker with tire deflation devices ready and waiting.
The stop sticks found their mark, taking out the Corvette’s left-side tires. The vehicle kept rolling north, eventually exiting near the 8-mile marker onto Missouri State Highway 164, visibly slowing from the tire damage. As Trooper Arellano moved alongside to set up a tactical vehicle intervention, the Corvette braked suddenly. The front left corner of the patrol car connected with the rear right corner of the Corvette. Both vehicles were disabled. The chase was over, at least the motorized part of it.
When the Car Stopped, the Running Started
The driver, identified in the report as Jayden Smith, was not finished. He climbed out of the wrecked Corvette and took off on foot across a field, carrying a black backpack. The trooper followed.
The foot pursuit was brief. Smith stopped, raised his hands, and went to the ground.
What Was in the Backpack
When officers looked inside Smith’s backpack, they found two Ram TRX key fobs, one Dodge SRT key fob, and his driver’s license. The key fobs are noteworthy, given that the Ram 1500 TRX and Dodge SRT vehicles they correspond to are high-performance machines that attract considerable interest from thieves.
No vehicle thefts were mentioned in the report, though the presence of the fobs was documented. A search of the Corvette also turned up a small container with what was suspected to be marijuana, weighing in at 0.12 grams, which is roughly enough to fill a thumbnail.
While being placed into a patrol vehicle, Smith reportedly told officers he was not concerned about the Corvette because he could simply buy another one. That is the kind of comment that tends to stick in a police report.
Charges and What Comes Next
Smith was transported to the Pemiscot County Jail in Caruthersville, Missouri, pending extradition. The list of allegations is a long one, including felony fleeing in a vehicle creating a substantial danger of death, fleeing on foot, possession of a controlled substance, reckless driving, no seat belt, no insurance, improper lane change, expired tags, and improper display of license tags. Arkansas State Police also indicated they would be seeking restitution for damage to the patrol vehicle.
For the Corvette’s part, it ended its morning somewhere on a Missouri highway shoulder with two flat tires and a crumpled rear corner. Whatever it was capable of on paper, this was not the kind of run its designers had in mind. All individuals named are presumed innocent unless found guilty in a court of law.