Police arrest two after pursuit (The Carthage Press)

Police arrest two after pursuit

By Staff reports
Carthage Press
Mon Mar 30, 2009, 01:34 PM CDT

CARTHAGE, Mo. -

Two men were arrested on Sunday after a short vehicle pursuit, followed by a foot chase in the 700 block of Howard Street in Carthage late on Sunday.

Carthage police said Gelver Perez Hernandez, 22, and Juan Figueroa Martinez, 30, both of Carthage, are bring held in the Carthage City Jail on numerous charges and detainers from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Police said both men had apparently been deported from the U.S. in the past.

A written release from Carthage Police Lt. Barry Duncan gave the following account of what happened Sunday:

At 10:34 p.m., an officer attempted to stop an erratic driver in a white Mitsubishi on McGregor Street at Oak Street in Carthage.

The vehicle accelerated in an attempt to get away from the officer. The vehicle ran a red signal light at Oak and Garrison and stop signs at Fourth Street and Main Street and Fourth Street and Howard Street. An uninvolved vehicle at Fourth and Howard had to take evasive actions to keep from being struck by the fleeing vehicle.

The vehicle stopped in the 700 block of Howard Street and the driver fled on foot. After a foot chase, and a search of the area, the driver was found hiding in the attic of a house, 700 block of Lincoln Street.

The Carthage Fire Department assisted by taking a ladder to the scene. Officers entered the small crawl space and arrested the driver.