Jan. 18, 2023 Boone police slowly chased a man on a John Deere tractor who allegedly tried to run down pedestrians and crashed into a cruiser before jumping off the farm implement, brandishing a knife.
By Irene Wright Source The Charlotte Observer Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A man accused of stealing a John Deere tractor in Boone, North Carolina, led police on a chase through the small town, authorities say.
Boone Police Department was called on Tuesday, Jan. 17 following reports that a tractor was being driven around a parking lot “erratically,” attempting to hit pedestrians. When officers responded, they found a man driving the tractor that they were “very familiar with.”
Police say the man then began to drive the tractor down a main road into on-coming traffic.
“We did attempt to use stop sticks,” Boone police Chief Andy Le Beau said in a Facebook post, “but they were not terribly effective on the tractor.”
Le Beau said at this point the tractor intentionally drove into a Boone police vehicle and began to drive toward an elementary school.
“(We) were determined not to let him get that far,” Le Beau said.
Once in an “isolated area,” police shot at the tractor tires, hitting a front tire and deflating it. Now at about 20 mph, according to Wataugaonline.com, the man continued to drive the tractor without a front tire, leading police in a slow speed chase before turning onto a private road.
Once the road ended, police say the man “jumped off the tractor and was wielding a knife.” An officer used a Taser to stop the man, and he was taken into custody.
In total, the man in the tractor hit multiple cars, a dumpster, a police vehicle and a church, but no injuries occurred to the man or the police officers pursuing him.
“We are still trying to sort it all out,” Le Beau said. “Be safe out there.”