Poteau Man Charged with Eluding after Chase

The 20-year-old Poteau man, who led police on a chase from LeFlore County through Sallisaw to Gore on Oct. 26, was charged Monday in Sequoyah County District Court in Sallisaw with endangering others while eluding police.

Ethan Ray Roberts was arrested around midnight on Oct. 26 in Gore after crashing the 2013 GMC pickup truck he was driving and that had been reported stolen.

According to the arresting sheriff deputy’s report filed with the charges, he was dispatched to Sallisaw on Oct. 26 in reference to the Panama police and LeFlore County Sheriff’s Department pursuing a stolen pickup truck in a chase that reached 100 miles per hour.

The deputy reported as he approached the fleeing vehicle, on U.S. Highway 59 near the Golden Spur Motel in Sallisaw, “the driver of the 2013 GMC swerved into my lane attempting to strike my vehicle head on. I had to swerve out of the line of impact.”

The deputy turned around and began a pursuit of the truck which turned west onto U.S. Highway 64. Vian and Sallisaw police laid out spike strips on the highway, near County Road E1060, which damaged the front tire on the passenger’s side of the truck.

However, the suspect kept driving west at about 100 miles per hour through Vian. According to the report Gore police set up outside Gore in an attempt to stop the pickup truck, but the driver eluded him and drove on into Gore.

The report says the driver lost control of the truck on a slight curve on Northwest Railroad Street in Gore and came to a stop after hitting a tree. Roberts, the driver, was taken into custody by Sallisaw police. 

The passenger in the truck, a 15-year-old boy, told the officers he tried to get out of the vehicle, and said he had told Roberts to stop because he was scared. The juvenile was also taken into custody.

According to the report, Roberts, after his arrest, told the deputy, “I apologize for trying to take you out.”

Roberts and the juvenile were given into the custody of the LeFlore County Sheriff’s Office.

According to court records, Roberts was charged in LeFlore County District Court on Nov. 1 with first-degree burglary, larceny of automobile, endangering others while attempting to elude police and a misdemeanor charge of DUI drugs.

Sally Maxwell, Senior News Director

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