Attempted Murder Charge After Shoplifting Suspects Lead Police on Dangerous Chase

BEREA, Ky.(WTVQ) – Officers with the Berea Police Department say two men are facing multiple charges, including one for attempted murder, after stealing cigarettes from a gas station convenience store, and then leading officers on a dangerous chase along I-75.

Investigators say they received a call about two shoplifters at the Shell station on Peggy Flats Road.  Police say the caller told them that two men had taken 7 cartons of cigarettes and then left in a blue Jeep Cherokee.

A report says that a responding officer saw the vehicle, and stopped it at the southbound I-75 entrance ramp at Exit 77.  Police say when the driver was asked to step out of the car, he refused, put the vehicle in reverse, and peeled out backward, hitting the officer with the open door of the Jeep.

The driver then took off southbound, as police pursued.  Investigators say the driver got off at Exit 62 at Mount Vernon, and then got back on the interstate heading northbound, back into Madison County.  That’s when police say deputies with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, along with Kentucky State Police Troopers also got involved in the pursuit.

Officers say during the pursuit, the driver intentionally swerved toward an officer, nearly hitting him.  Police also say a passenger in the Jeep began throwing the stolen cigarettes out of the window.

Eventually, near Exit 76, investigators say the driver lost control of the Jeep and wrecked.  Everyone in the vehicle took off on foot into a nearby wooded area, but were eventually located.

Officers arrested the driver, 25-year-old Darrelle Walton and 22-year-old Deandre Tucker, both from Detroit, Michigan.  A 17-year-old was also in the Jeep, but was not charged.

Walton faces charges of attempted murder of a police officer, wanton endangerment, unlawful transaction with a minor, fleeing and evading, theft by unlawful taking, and numerous traffic violations.

Tucker has been charged with theft by unlawful taking, fleeing and evading, tampering with physical evidence, and unlawful transaction with a minor.

Both were taken to the Madison County Detention Center.