High-speed chase ends in Leake marsh

Two Walnut Grove men were arrested and charged after leading Sheriff’s deputies on a high-speed chase through town that ended in a Leake County marsh earlier this month.

The driver, Matthew Dillion Whitacre, 22, 138 Cobble Stone Road, Walnut Grove, was arrested and charged with felony pursuit, DUI, reckless driving, resisting arrest, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of paraphernalia.

Travone Jeremiah Thornsberry, 18, 1987 Gunter Road, Walnut Grove, was arrested and charged with felony pursuit, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of paraphernalia.

According to Neshoba County Sheriff Eric Clark, the 17-mile pursuit began on June 11 at about 9:15 p.m. in the Hope community near the intersection of Oswald Road and Highway 488 when Whitacre sped his white Jeep SUV through a safety checkpoint. 

Clark said the chase then reached the city limits on Highway 15 south before turning left on Frog Level Road and traveling west through the Choctaw Indian Reservation near the hospital. 

Clark said the chase eventually ended when the subjects crashed their vehicle in a ditch just across the Leake County line on Highway 16.

“They veered off the road and stalled out in a marsh that was waste-deep,” Clark said.

Clark said Thornsberry was arrested near the vehicle without incident, but Whitacre fled deeper into the marsh and was soon found hiding in the water and brush.

Clark said Whitacre consumed several bags of methamphetamine during the pursuit but dropped one which deputies were able to locate under the driver’s seat.

Clark said the investigation later discovered two alligators in the vicinity of the scene of the crash and search.

Leake County Sheriff’s deputies and officers with the Choctaw Police Department assisted in the capture.