Two Michigan men are cooling their heels in an Arkansas jail after police said they tore through three states in a stolen U-Haul. Cory Mercier and Trenton Johnson, both 21, allegedly led police on a wild chase, clocking speeds over 120 mph, and were finally apprehended in Tontitown, Arkansas, with an assortment of weapons and incendiary devices in their possession.
The high-speed pursuit began in Oklahoma and spiraled into Arkansas, ending dramatically when a police vehicle executed a precision maneuver to finally halt the renegade U-Haul. According to Tontitown Police, the arresting officers discovered two firearms, a machete, and two Molotov cocktails inside the vehicle, CBS News Detroit reported. Mercier and Johnson are now facing a smorgasbord of charges including aggravated assault and possession of destructive devices.
The pair were also wanted in their home state of Michigan, a fact that pointedly underscores a propensity to evade law enforcement. "Initial conversations with them was that they were headed back to the Michigan area and for whatever purpose, that they were going to use those firearms or a Molotov cocktail. I cannot think of a legitimate reason," Detective Keith Lindley of the Tontitown Police Department told WXYZ.
Joseph Mercier, the father of one of the suspects, expressed confusion and dismay regarding his son's actions in an interview with ABC affiliate WXYZ in Detroit. "I love my kid. I can't believe it," he said, adding of Mercier and Johnson, "They bust their butts. They got themselves a nice place, paid for all their bills, never missed work and then things changed." Yet, even familial bonds can strain to rationalize the duo's string of police chases that began on January 23, when Westland police attempted to corner them, but the chase was quickly terminated due to their refusal to comply.
Further detailing the chronological cascade of events, the Westland Police later identified the men but were thwarted once more when they approached the suspects. "They said the driver rammed an unmarked police vehicle, nearly striking a detective before fleeing at a high rate of speed," according to 4029tv. The impending legal proceedings for Mercier and Johnson are now as interwoven as the series of roads on which they led police such a circuitous dance, facing multiple felony charges across two states.
