Muddy Ditch, Helicopter Help End Tulsa Police Pursuit

Two men led Tulsa Police on a pursuit late Saturday night before ending up in jail. Officers say a muddy ditch and the police helicopter aided in the arrests.

It started at about 11:15 p.m. when they tried to pull an SUV over for a traffic violation in the 3200 block of North Hartford, according to police.

Corporal Dan Miller said the driver of an SUV was leaving a store and went left of center. When police tried to pull him over, he kept going.

"For about six to 10 minutes, they continued to fail to yield," he said.

The driver tried to make a turn to go westbound on 56th Street North and went into a ditch.

"Due to all the rain that we've had lately, this ditch is nothing but mud, and he's buried his vehicle up in the mud," Miller said.

The driver, identified as Reginald Leon Haynes and his passenger, Dejuan Alexander Jones, both ran. They were caught after a foot chase.

Miller said they weren't sure why the two ran in the first place.

"Neither one of these guys had warrants," he said. "I don't know if they just decided - hey, I'm not going to let the police stop me tonight and get a ticket."

Police found nothing illegal in the SUV. Miller said the police helicopter aided in the foot chase - watching the driver hop fences and try to hide behind a house.

"With the helicopter here, probably three or four minutes, we had both both guys wrapped up and in custody," he said.

Haynes, 24, was booked on complaints of eluding after a felony conviction, resisting arrest, no driver's license, driving left of center and obstructing justice. Jones, 21, bonded out on a complaint of obstructing justice.