Report of suspicious vehicle at cemetery leads to pursuit, crash

LAUREL COUNTY, Ky. (WTVQ) – Deputies were called to a Laurel County cemetery on Thursday morning where someone reported seeing a suspicious vehicle.

The Laurel County Sheriff’s Office says when a deputy spotted the vehicle in the cemetery off H.B. Smith Road in London and approached it, the driver took off.

The driver reportedly reached speeds of more than 110 miles per hour, passing vehicles on double yellow lines and putting his brakes on in an attempt to make the deputy pursuing him wreck.

The pursuit continued into Clay County, where deputies say the driver lost control and went into an embankment.

He then jumped out of the vehicle and took off.

After a scuffle with deputies, 37-year-old Matthew Powell, of London, was arrested and charged with wanton endangerment of a police officer, fleeing and evading and operating a motor vehicle under the influence, along with several other charges, according to the sheriff.