An 18-year-old Memphis man is facing felony theft and evading arrest charges after Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers say he led them on a high-speed chase through the city in a stolen Infiniti Q50, reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour before a masked passenger jumped out and fled with an AR pistol, which he later tossed into a creek.
Master Boyland was taken into custody Wednesday after troopers allegedly caught him leading a high-speed chase in the stolen car, according to WREG. Troopers were patrolling the area of Kirby Parkway and East Raines Road when they spotted a silver Infiniti Q50 driving with no headlights on, the station reports. When troopers ran the car's license plate, it came back as reported stolen, and they attempted to initiate a traffic stop.
Instead of pulling over, the driver allegedly disregarded a red traffic signal at the intersection and took off, merging onto I-385 westbound from Kirby Parkway. Troopers say the driver was weaving in and out of traffic and driving on the wrong side of the road while reaching speeds up to 120 mph. The chase eventually slowed when the driver came to a rolling stop, at which point a masked man jumped out of the driver's seat.
Masked Man Ditches Gun in Willow Road Creek
The man who bailed from the driver's seat was described by troopers as wearing a ski mask, black jacket and blue joggers, and he was carrying a red AR pistol as he ran toward a park area on Willow Road, per the account relayed to WREG. Troopers commanded him to stop and show his hands, but he continued running before throwing the pistol into a creek inside the park. He was ultimately taken into custody shortly after the foot chase, and troopers recovered the discarded pistol from the creek.
Boyland now faces a lengthy list of charges: theft of property valued between $10,000 and $60,000, evading arrest, intentionally evading arrest in an automobile, reckless driving, speeding, disobedience to traffic control, driving on the wrong side of the road, weaving in and out of traffic, and failure to exercise due care. He is being held in a Memphis jail on a $25,000 bond and is due in court Friday morning.
Theft Charge Carries Years-Long Prison Exposure
Under Tennessee Code § 39-14-105, theft of property valued between $10,000 and $60,000 is classified as a Class C felony carrying a potential sentence of 3 to 15 years in prison and fines up to $10,000, according to Justia Law. Felony evading arrest in a vehicle is typically a Class E felony punishable by 1 to 6 years, but the charge can escalate to a Class D felony carrying 2 to 12 years if the pursuit creates a risk of death or serious injury to bystanders, according to the Oberman & Rice Law Firm. Allegations that Boyland's driving reached 120 mph while weaving through traffic could factor into how prosecutors classify the evading charge.
Chase Unfolds Amid State Trooper Surge in Shelby County
The stretch of Kirby Parkway and East Raines Road where troopers first spotted the Infiniti has seen heavy state police presence since the Tennessee Department of Safety deployed roughly 300 troopers — about a quarter of the state's entire trooper force — into Shelby County as part of the multi-agency Memphis Safe Task Force, established in late 2025, per the Memphis Flyer. The surge was aimed at saturation patrols across the city as part of a broader crackdown on crime, including the vehicle theft that has plagued Memphis in recent years.
That crackdown has coincided with steep declines in reported thefts. Motor vehicle thefts in the city fell 61.6% during the 2025–2026 operational period compared to the prior period, dropping from 6,245 incidents to 2,398, according to City of Memphis crime tracking data. The Council on Criminal Justice separately found that reported motor vehicle thefts in Memphis dropped 43% from 2024 to 2025, though total auto thefts in the city remained 36% higher than pre-pandemic 2019 levels. Even with those declines, the Memphis metro area ranked third highest in the nation for vehicle theft rates in 2025, with 427.75 thefts reported per 100,000 residents, per National Insurance Crime Bureau data.
Pursuit Tactics Draw Continued Scrutiny
The high-speed nature of Wednesday's chase adds to a growing local debate over Tennessee Highway Patrol pursuit tactics. An investigation by the Institute for Public Service Reporting found that during just the first five weeks of the Memphis Safe Task Force operation in late 2025, law enforcement engaged in 75 vehicle pursuits — 88% of them conducted by Tennessee Highway Patrol — resulting in 32 crashes, according to reporting from MLK50. State attorneys have since confirmed that the agency's internal pursuit policy is considered confidential and exempt from public disclosure under the Tennessee Public Records Act, leaving no public criteria for when troopers initiate or terminate a chase.
The scrutiny has reached the state legislature. Tennessee Highway Patrol Colonel Matt Perry pledged in March to review trooper pursuit practices after lawmakers raised concerns about chases stemming from minor traffic infractions, per the Institute for Public Service Reporting. Boyland's chase, which began after troopers noticed a car with its headlights off, echoes a pattern Hoodline has tracked in recent months, including a late-July pursuit in which a suspect drove 110 mph onto the same Highway 385 before abandoning the vehicle and fleeing on foot.
