"I was just having fun;" man jailed for driving erratically

A rash decision to have fun landed a 52-year-old male from Caddo in the Marshall County Jail. Madill Officer Barrientos was parked at Atwoods on Highway 70 monitoring traffic during the snow and ice storm on Febru-ary 4, 2022.

He witnessed a black Toyota Tundra exit the Ma- dill Gaming Center driving erratically. Then, the truck began doing donuts in the middle of Highway 70. Barrientos immediately pulled out and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. Apparently, the driver, Todd Looney, was not ready to pull over.

Looney failed to stop and pull over for Barrientos and decided to lead the Madill officer on a high-speed chase. Even though running at 60 to 70 miles an hour does not seem extremely dangerous, it is when it is through a 30-mile-an-hour zone and there is ice on the ground.

The duo traveled south on 70, passing Smiley Road. Barrientos kept dispatch informed on their direction and what roads they turned on. Looney turned right on 70f and hit speeds of over 90 miles an hour.

Looney then turned right on Highway 32, spinning his tires as he turned. Barrientos said he thought Looney might lose control of the vehicle because his tires were losing traction.

While speeding down Highway 32, Looney traveled into the oncoming lane, and even sped through the construction zone on McMillan Road.

Officer JT Moore and a Love County Deputy then joined in on the pursuit. The quartet continued down Highway 32 past Lotties Road. At this point, Looney turned off all the lights on his truck, and was driving completely dark. He turned the light back on after they passed Love Valley Road. Looney then turns into the REA parking lot, still driv- ing erratically, and making the truck slide. The truck almost slid into the Love County unit.
Barrientos approached the vehicle, commanding Looney to exit the vehicle. Looney still was not done. He backed up the truck and hit Moore’s unit. That was the moment Barrientos heard gunshots. Barrientos quickly approached the vehicle, shattered the driver’s window with his baton, and ordered Looney to exit the vehicle with his hands up. Looney still refused to exit the vehicle, causing the Love County Deputy to assist Barrientos in extricating the driver.

Once Barrientos and the other officer placed Looney into double-locking hand-cuffs, Looney told officers that he was “only having fun.” He also told Barrientos that the officer should have “stopped the pursuit,” it was “his fault,” and he could have “gotten away if he wanted to.”

Looney was booked into the Marshall County Jail for Eluding/Attempting to Elude, Assault on a Police Officer, DUI, and Reckless Driving. An online search found priors for Transporting an Open Container, Trans- porting a Loaded Firearm, Possession of CDS, Violation of a Protection Order, and Malicious Injury.