Thursday, February 8th 2018, 4:47 pm
A man is in jail after leading police on a car chase and then a foot pursuit spanning two counties.
He even rammed into a police cruiser in the process.
The Pawnee County under Sheriff was originally in pursuit of the car that was said to be stolen out of Tulsa County.
That's when John Lee led Officers from several different agencies on a chase, even running into a Cleveland police cruiser in the process.
Cleveland Police Sgt. Mark Smith was chasing John Lee when Lee quickly slowed down and put the truck he was driving in reverse.
“I believe he tried to hit me hard enough to set off my airbags and immobilize my vehicle,” said Sgt. Smith.
Sgt. Smith is a K9 Officer and had his partner in the back, so his first thought went straight to him.
“He didn't yelp or anything but he was barking,” Smith said.
Sgt. Smith continued to follow Lee into Pawnee County where he jumped out of the truck while it was still moving.
“The vehicle's wheels were still moving when we walked up to it,” said Smith.
Officers said that's when Lee waded across the river into Osage County.
Osage County deputies arrested him after several hours of searching and turned him over to Pawnee County.
“A few years ago he was a person of interest in a believed-to-be homicide case of an individual who was last seen with Mr. Lee and has never been seen again. From what I understand Tulsa County is basically working the same kind of case,” said Cleveland Police Department Chief, Clinton Stout.
The Tulsa County Sheriff's Office put out an alert about Kathy Lynn Hemphill's white P.T. Cruiser. They believe her car may contain crucial evidence in an investigation. She hasn't been seen since October.
Officers said they are just happy to have him in custody.
“Judging by what he did to me I would say if he would do that to a law enforcement officer, who knows what he would do to the general public,” said Sgt. Smith.
Tulsa County is still looking for Hemphill's white P.T. Cruiser with Oklahoma Plate 113-HFG.
If you see it or have any information on these cases, call police.
As for John Lee, he's now in custody at the Pawnee County Jail and could be facing several different charges out of multiple counties.
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