On Saturday, a man stole ammunition, then led Madill Police and other agencies on a high-speed chase. At approximately 9:15 a.m. on February 22, Madill Officer Dustin Atnip was notified by dispatch about a male suspect – later identified as Michael Moody - who had entered the store and stole some ammunition.
Store employees informed Atnip that the suspect “gathered ammunition and placed it into an ammunition container and left in a gold Honda Civic with no license plate traveling north on Highway 70.” Atnip headed toward the possible direction that the Civic might be traveling, and as luck would have it, that was the direction it was heading. According to the police report, Atnip he noticed the vehicle as he approached Highway 70 from East Wolf Street.
The officer got behind the vehicle, and noticed that not only did it match the description of the vehicle, it was also missing a license plate. Atnip then activated his emergency lights to pull the vehicle over. The driver continued for two blocks, refusing to stop. The suspect then turned into the Subway parking lot.
Madill Officer Chris Smith also arrived on scene and stopped in front of the vehicle, and Atnip was at the rear.
Atnip thought the vehicle was blocked, and began giving the driver verbal commands to roll down his window. Instead of complying, Moody backed up toward Atnip, and drove around Smith’s patrol unit to turn north on Highway 70.
Both officers began a pursuit of Moody, while still heading north on Highway 70. While heading toward Highway 177, Moody passed vehicles in the turning lane and the shoulder at speeds of 115 mph. He also traveled in the same lane as oncoming traffic a few times.
The pursuit then passed Highway 1 into Johnston County. The trio blazed through Mannsville at speeds of over 110 mph. Then, they sped through Dickson and turned on Highway 199, still holding speeds between 110 and 120 mph.
They approached Ardmore City Limits at break neck speeds, and traveled west onto Sam Noble Parkway. Ardmore Police Officers joined in the pursuit, while Moody continued to put other motorist’s lives in danger.
The pursuit wound its way to the intersection of Highway 77s and Lodge Road. Ardmore Police engaged tire deflation devices in the intersection, but Moody was able to drive around it where he continued on to I-35. This time, Dickson Police Department joined the chase.
As the group proceeded south on I-35, between mile markers 28 and 27, a few of the Ardmore Officers disengaged from the pursuit. However, and Oklahoma Highway Patrol Officer took Ardmore’s place in the pursuit. The pursuit then entered Love County, where a deputy deployed his tire deflation device. This time, Moody was not so lucky, he ran over the device.
The pursuit continued for approximately three miles, all the while the tires of the vehicle are now smoking. This was when Moody eventually pulled over on the shoulder and came to a stop.
Moody exited his vehicle and continued to attempt to elude on foot. An Ardmore Officer reached Moody first and took him to the ground.
However, Moody was not done resisting. Atnip noted that Moody had “tucked his right arm under his torso and was resisting forcefully and was failing to obey commands to release his arm and to stop resisting.” Officers used knee strikes to subdue Moody and eventually place him under arrest.
Once Moody was secure in the rear seat of Atnip’s patrol unit, they searched the vehicle. The officers found the ammunition containers and the license plate in the vehicle.
Moody was taken to Mercy Hospital in Ardmore for observation. He was showing signs of intoxication with slurred speech and delayed verbal responses. The hospital staff decided to keep him overnight for observation, and would contact the Madill Police Department before they released him.
The ammunition that Moody stole was valued at over $700.
In the February 20 issue of The Madill Record, Elizabeth Wainwright was incorrectly identidied as Elizabeth Stanley.