This is Special Agent Jake Bartlett with Arkansas State Police. I will be speaking to Sergeant Chase Meldder, Arkansas State Police at the Pope County Sheriff's Office. Time's going to be 3:13 p.m. and date is July 5th, 2023. Sergeant, uh, we can kind of just go over just a little bit. Um, your rank as sergeant, uh, what what what's your area of assignment? So, I'm the sergeant over Yale County and Johnson County and Troop J. >> Okay. And can you tell me how long you've been employed with Arkansas State, please? >> Yeah, about 16 and 1/2 years. >> Okay. And then how long have you been in law enforcement altogether? >> Uh 18 and a half. >> Okay. Okay. And uh were you working today uh during the incident? >> Yes, I was. >> All right. And what's your shift? >> Well, I had a meeting this morning, so I had to come out a little early. Okay. Uh >> when when did you come out? >> But I came I checked 108 uh about 10:45. >> 10:45. Yeah. Okay. >> Um All right. And if you can just start me out where you were um when this how you how you got involved with this incident. >> Yeah. So I was p uh I'd pulled into the our hobnob office in Russville our substation DL testing facility. Uh I was getting out of the car there to go in to work on some stuff on my computer and I heard uh trooper Cloy Irvin Cloy that was trying to stop an 18-wheeler. And I knew that he was in Johnson County. Uh, I didn't know which way he's going, so I had to get on the radio and ask uh which way he's going. He told me eastbound. And then eventually uh I got a mile marker, figured out that they were coming towards me. Uh the truck wasn't stopping. It wasn't driving extremely fast at the time. It was it was speeding uh but not extremely fast. And so anyways, I knew it was headed towards me. So to go and assist, you know, I started heading that way from the substation. So, I drove uh from Hobnob to uh the 72 crossover there at the Pope Johnson County line. Okay. Um and while I was on the way there, uh a couple I think a Lamar City unit, maybe a Johnson County deputy, uh got in their pursuit. I know it's two Johnson County units. I'm not sure exactly which ones, but they got in the pursuit and actually got in front of the big truck just to make sure that the truck driver knew that Irvin was behind him. Uh at least this was what's coming over the radio. >> Uh that and so it was relayed to us that they def he definitely knows and he's not stopping. Like they kind of tried to I think do a little box in there and and he wasn't that wasn't h going to happen. Okay. Uh he according to them they probably would have hit him and so they kept coming towards me. Uh and so they they're at the 72 you can see up the hill and I saw him coming and so I jumped out in front of of the big truck and let the big truck catch up to me with my lights and stuff on. I tried to do the same thing. I tried to slow the big truck down uh and with my lights on and if I would have slowed down he'd have hit me in the rear. like there's no like he got pretty close to me and so at that point I thought in my mind we need to get some spike set up like he knows we're here he's not going to stop or you know and so uh I moved on up ahead uh I actually was going to try to find somewhere to set up spikes and had two other troopers that ended up able to get there quicker and the Pope County deputy uh set up spikes and so I just kind of stayed out in front to to monitor and make sure that the, you know, the guys setting up the spikes were in the right places. Uh, talk on the radio to let people know, you know, where they were and stuff. Just trying to communication because they had several different agencies. So, I want to make sure that nobody got hurt doing that. Uh, and then, uh, got to Paul Meeks who was at the 81. Uh Paul was the big truck avoided his spikes and kept going. And so we went to kept going up to the 83 and that's when uh I don't know his rank, but uh McNise uh did his spike strips and got his car hit. And I heard that on the radio and for a minute I didn't know if he had gotten hit or if the uh just his car, but uh eventually came over the radio and said that it was just his car and that he he thinks he got uh the left side of the tires on the spikes. And so uh at that at that point, you know, I felt like we were dealing with an aggravated assault uh situation. I mean, the driver of the big truck obviously has no regard for for life with hitting the, you know, hitting the police car and stuff like that. And so, um, and we really didn't have any other way to stop stop him. And so, it keeps going. Uh Adrienne Belchure had radioed, trooper Belchure radioed that she was at around the 87 88. Uh she was at the 87 there at the overpass and she deployed her spikes also which were effective but the truck still was going and wouldn't stop and um Irvin and got Irving Cloak was behind it the whole time and said that you know he was driving more recklessly and that kind of thing and so uh it kept going to uh to going towards Atkins. So, uh, at that point, I made the decision that we needed to stop the pursuit cuz the guy obviously didn't care and didn't seem to care about who he hurt. Uh, we didn't have another means of stopping him other than getting up on the the interstate and trying to to shoot him, shoot his vehicle to disable it. Uh, to be honest, I think we were we were justified to use deadly force at that point, but we, you know, we didn't, you know, we wanted to bring it to, you know, we'd rather not do that, and so that's what we chose to do. uh with all the information that we had and needing to stop it. So, uh Destin Linkis and I set up on the overpass at the 94 in Atkins. A couple Atkins officers shut down traffic to give us room so cars wasn't coming over the interstate. Um and then we were communicating with the units that were in the pursuit. Uh making sure that there was plenty of space, you know, in between the units so they were weren't weren't in danger at all. Uh Destin and I got ourselves in a position to where our rounds uh most likely would not affect the westbound traffic because it was still moving. So we got oursel at an angle to make sure that you know they wouldn't be affected and any kind of crossfire or ricochet. You know hopefully that was that was the plan. And uh the big truck come towards us. Uh it was obvious that was that was the one cuz it had the blown out front tire. It was leaning. So we knew that it was was the one Destin and I communicated with each other the radiator, you know, and uh anyways, so it got close. It got to a point. So there's a guard rail there and we had already made a plan. Like we didn't want to shoot a long ways. Like when it gets to this the end of this guard rail, that's when we're going to start shooting the radiator. And it got there. We did, you know, I think we shot around 15 rounds. I don't know exactly what together. Shot 15 rounds into the the radiator. uh is completely cleared. Like there's no police officers behind it at the times that we were shooting that I saw. Uh and there's plenty of room in front. So, we had clear shots at the at the radiator of the truck and the engine block. Uh big truck went on. It uh became disabled a couple miles at the 96. So, we shot it at the 94, became disabled at the 96 uh and stopped. And so, uh, once it stopped, the driver or the person in the truck, uh, started taking his clothes off and throwing them out the window. We could see that that there was somebody in there. We could see the door opening, closing. You know, he, uh, was throwing clothes out of the out of the door for at least at a minimum of 15 minutes. We were on the PA trying to get him to come to us, trying to get him to get out of the truck and come to us. Uh, that never happened. Uh, we got some assets there. Destinis is on the emergency response team. He's got a pepper ball gun and so um and then uh Mikey Brown with the sheriff's office got there with his less lethal shotgun. At the time, I didn't realize that the side windows on the truck were rolled down. So, we were going to use the less lethal shotgun to bust out the window and then pepper ball inside the truck. And so, we didn't have to do that, but it uh we moved up. When I say we, uh that was Paul Meeks, uh Paul Matthews, Destin had the pepper ball gun, and then uh Mikey Brown had the had the less lethal shotgun. >> So, we moved up on the passenger side of the truck. uh got at an angle to where Destin was able to shoot the pepper ball gun at the front windshield to make the the balls bust uh to be effective. And they did. He shot several rounds uh through that through uh the driver's side open window hitting the front windshield of the truck. It was effective because the guy came out uh of the truck on the driver's side uh and he was completely naked. Uh we tried again to communicate with him to get him to come to us. Uh never would do it. We didn't feel, you know, I was kind of I well no kind of I was making the calls on kind of on where we positioned and stuff and I the guy was still close enough to the driver door that I didn't feel like uh it was safe enough for us to we knew he wasn't armed, you know, on his person, but we didn't know what was in the truck. And so we didn't want to walk up there, get on the side of the truck, and then him jump back in and we're in a bad disadvantage. And so, uh, we did get a little bit closer to the to the truck and tried to talk talk him into to coming to us. Uh, he never would. And then, uh, Mikey Brown made the decision to shoot one round of less lethal shotgun. Uh, uh, shot him in the abdomen with the the with the bean bag. It was effective. The guy laid down on the ground. We were able to go over and and secure him, put handcuffs on him. Uh after that we got him away from the scene, cleared the rest of the truck as for people uh made sure there's no more people in there and then we we got out and that was pretty much over. You know, we got called EMS. EMS was already on standby. Uh and they came up there and checked the the person out. I don't even know his name at this point, but uh the driver of the truck checked him out and transported him to to the hospital where he is right now. Uh, >> and >> pretty much it. >> Let me just kind of go back kind of touch on some things. >> Um, so uh Coke, just to summarize, I guess, but Coke's um you hear him on the radio, he's in pursuit. >> Yeah. >> You know he's in Johnson County. >> Is because you know Cloy because he's works for you. You're his sergeant because you're over Johnson County, right? That's right. Yeah. >> Okay. And so you from there you go down to the 72. >> Mhm. >> And there's a crossover there. >> That's right. >> Okay. And then um and then so you're kind of trying to box him in which is the second time now at this point. >> That's correct. Y >> uh he would have hit you at that point if he had tried to slow down which is the boxing technique. That's right. Yeah. He didn't check up any >> He didn't check up. >> So you move up ahead. um and start staging the areas where uh people would do spike strips. >> Right. >> Now, you said Rodney and he's with the Pope County Sheriff's Office. Uh you had heard his vehicle got struck. >> You weren't sure if it was him or the vehicle, but >> at first, no. Uh then it got on the radio and clarified. And then you move on up and um Paul Meeks who's a trooper uh and Adrien Belchure who was also a trooper also deployed Spike Strips. >> They did. Paul Paul did before MC. Then after McNise it was Belchure at the 87. >> And and Belchure relayed that she thinks her spike strips worked on that. Yes. >> And then at that point he the vehicle was not stopping. >> Right. And so you move up ahead. She was at the 87 >> and you move up ahead to the 94, >> right? And I was I mean to be hon to be fair, I was already a good distance ahead. I was trying to make up after after the truck hit McNiss's vehicle. That's when I was like, "All right, if this these other two or these spikes don't work and he doesn't stop between, you know, he was at the 83 to the 94, so it gave him 11 miles >> that that he could he could have stopped. I was like, if it doesn't work after this, then we've got to do something different." And so from the time that I heard on the radio that MCN's car was hit, I really moved out to get to the 94 to have enough time to set up. >> Okay. And then um real quick uh I know where these places are some of them but just to clarify the Hobnob office. >> Where is that exactly? >> That's on Hobnob Road which is off of Weir Road. Uh >> what town is it? >> In Russellville. >> In Russellville. Okay. And then um and then when you get when you get to the 94 which is >> Atkins >> Atkins um >> are where you set up you and um Destin again up on the overpass >> on the overpass. So that's uh >> oh goodness gracious. >> Oh 105. >> Yeah. Highway 105. >> But you're at an angle so you don't because the truck's coming eastbound and you have traffic going westbound. So you kind of angle yourself where your your uh rounds aren't penetrating into the westbound. >> That's right. >> Okay. And then um fire approximately 15 rounds, give or take. >> Um the truck becomes disabled a couple miles later. >> Y'all approach the vehicle. Um >> we try to call him out for about 15 minutes. >> About 15 minutes. And then the people who approach the vehicle, are they uniformed like yourself or similar? >> Most of them were. Uh >> I'm just going to describe you. You've got a Arkansas State Police Class B >> uh which is a short sleeve uh uniform with a badge gun and a name name tag. So um and then your vehicle or any of the people in your vehicle, they have they have blue lights on. >> All of them. Yes. >> Okay. And how many uh is your vehicle marked or is any of your guys that are in that pursuit? >> Yeah. So, some of them were marked, some of them were partially marked. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Um and when you when the truck becomes disabled, I assume it's facing east. >> That's correct. Yeah. >> And you approach it from behind. >> Mhm. Uh, and then, um, Destin, when he's shooting the pepper ball around us, is he shooting it through the passenger side window or the driver's side? >> Passenger side. >> Passenger. And you said it hits the windshield. >> That's right. >> Okay. And then the suspect comes out of the um driver's side. >> That's right. >> Okay. And then at some point, um, Poke County investigator Mike Brown fires a, um, less lethal. >> Right. >> Okay. And how did he get there? >> So, uh, so >> part of the pursuit. >> Yeah. Well, no, not originally. Uh, so once the the driver of the truck, I mean, it's is obvious after just a few minutes that he probably wasn't coming out on his own. Uh, we knew that we had the pepper ball gun. We didn't have a way other than with a regular firearm to break the glass out cuz I thought I I still thought that probably both windows were were up. Uh, luckily they weren't, but I asked for less lethal shotgun and he had he heard me on the radio asking some people who's got a less lethal shotgun because my plan was to use the less lethal shotgun to hopefully break out that side glass. And so he heard that on the radio. So Poke Countyy's radio and and our radio were patched together and he heard that and I was like and he said that he had one and was bringing it. >> Okay. >> And so that's how he how he got there at that point. >> Okay. And then you said you had EMS on arrive >> and you did you have them staged up anywhere or >> Yeah, they were I think EMS was staged up in Atkins. I heard I heard I heard uh Poke County come over the radio and say the EMS was standing by. >> Okay. And then was when you make contact or when the suspect comes out of the vehicle, >> is he communicating anything to you? >> Uh so I was kind of back at that point uh just trying to make sure that there wasn't any kind of crossfire because I had uh a unit with two guys directly behind the the vehicle. Uh, and then I had the other guys with the pepper ball gun, less lethal, and other lethal cover in another area. So, I couldn't hear anything that the suspect was saying. All I could I know what the guys said that he said, but me personally, I didn't hear him say anything. >> Um, your guys were giving him command. You said about 15 minutes. >> Did he ever really follow your commands? >> He never followed any command. >> Never followed your commands. Okay. Why do you think he got out of the truck? >> Uh, the pepper ball gun. couldn't he couldn't withstand being there and it >> not because he was following your commands. >> That's right. Okay. >> Yes. >> All righty. Um, anything else you Oh, uh, weather conditions. What was it like out there? >> Yeah, it was clear >> clear blue blue skies. Uh, hot >> hot. Okay. >> Really hot. And that's probably why they rolled the windows windows down. I didn't think about it at the time, but you know, once the vehicle became disabled, he didn't have an air conditioner. >> Daytime environment. Yeah. Day skies. Okay. Okay. Um, sorry, that's probably all I got. Um, anything else you can think of? >> No, I mean just the most important thing is the reason that we used the force to stop the the truck is because it was it was relevant to or evident to us that he had he didn't plan to stop uh with him hitting the Poke County deputy. He showed us he didn't have regard for human life at all. Uh, and really we were concerned, you know, the longer these pursuits go on, the more dangerous it gets. And then you put an 80,000lb big truck in the in the mix and it gets a lot more dangerous. And uh, for the public safety, I mean, we just I felt the need that we had to >> do what we had to do to end it. >> Johnson County tried to do the box technique with trooper Cloy. >> Then you attempted also. then try to keep up here. But three attempts at spike strips, >> strikes one >> officer's vehicle. >> Yeah. >> Um and and that's all before he gets to you and trooper uh Lincoln. >> Yeah. >> At the 94, right? >> At the 94. So where do you know where exactly he was uh trooper when this all kind of kicked off? Uh I believe he's at the 51 mile marker in Johnson County eastbound side. He was he was on a traffic stop. Uh >> what what he said is he was on a traffic stop and the big truck uh come by him was originally in the left lane and moved over to the right lane as he come >> by trooper Cloy which is I mean I've been on the interstate for a long time now and that's not normal. >> For one thing it's against the law which is why uh Cloy tried to stop him. Uh but usually truck drivers are pretty attentive to getting over for for us and that that was really abnormal for him to >> Okay. >> to do that. >> Okay. Sounds good. Um all right. Well, I'm going to go ahead and end the interview. Uh and the truck, where did it end up going? Remember >> record service record lot. >> Okay. It's me in interview time's uh going to be 3:35