LAWRENCE, Kan. (WIBW) – The driver of a vehicle stolen from the University of Kansas has been arrested after the truck overturned following a chase with law enforcement.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says a 32-year-old Kansas City man was arrested Sunday night, Jan. 29, after a chase with law enforcement officers ended on I-70 east of Lawrence.
Just before 10:50 p.m., officials said they saw a 1999 Chevrolet Silverado in North Lawrence that matched the description of a vehicle reported stolen earlier in the night. The vehicle had been stolen from a parking lot on the University of Kansas campus.
Officials noted that Lawrence Police Department officers chased the vehicle at around 10:30 p.m., however, the driver, later identified as Christopher Medina, 32, of Kansas City, passed the officers and they stopped the chase after the truck crossed a railway sleeper holding back wall and yards.
Deputies said they then attempted to stop Medina in the eastbound lanes of I-70 just east of Lawrence, however, they again failed to relent. Due to Medina’s dangerous driving and safe distance from other traffic in the area, officials used tactical vehicle intervention and successfully drove the truck off the road.
Officials indicated the truck overturned and medics rushed Medina to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka. You have been evaluated and released. Upon his release, he was arrested at Douglas Co. Jail fleeing or attempting to evade law enforcement while driving a stolen vehicle.
As part of the ongoing investigation, the sheriff’s office said deputies also found a firearm believed to have been stolen in the vehicle along with a suspected drug substance and burglary tools. They also contacted the University of Kansas Police Department about the incident and the vehicle was towed from the scene.
