DOUGLAS COUNTY —Law enforcement authorities are investigating a suspect on multiple allegations after a violent chase in Douglas County.
Just after 2:30 p.m. Monday, a deputy observed a man, wanted for questioning in domestic incident, driving near Second and Locust streets and attempted to stop the vehicle, according to Douglas County Sheriff's department spokesman George Diepenbrock.
The deputy was also aware the driver did not have a valid drivers’ license.
The suspect accelerated from the stop near the entrance to the southbound lanes of the Kansas River bridge and then immediately slammed on the vehicle’s brakes, ramming into the deputy’s patrol vehicle.
The suspect then accelerated and jumped the median and fled eastbound on the levee and eventually onto Elm Street in North Lawrence.
The deputy observed the suspect drive through a residential yard in the 900 block of Elm Street and damage a fire hydrant. The suspect vehicle became disabled in a nearby field, and deputies took him into custody. The suspect was examined by medics and taken to LMH Health before he was cleared and transported to the Douglas County Jail.
He is being held on requested charges that include aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, two counts of making a criminal threat against a law enforcement officer for making specific threats against deputies after he was taken into custody.
No other injuries were reported, including to the deputy in the damaged patrol vehicle.