A routine traffic stop on Interstate 40 near West Memphis turned into a wild, high-speed run across the Mississippi River after a driver allegedly killed his headlights and pushed his Toyota Camry past 100 mph, eventually crashing on a Memphis street and disappearing on foot into the night.
The chase began around 11:36 p.m. on August 24 when Trooper First Class Gunner Fultz, stationary near the 283-mile marker in Crittenden County, clocked a dark blue sedan traveling 81 mph in a 65 mph zone, according to NEA Report. The driver initially pulled onto the shoulder near the 284-mile marker, but per the police report, he sped off after being instructed to put the car in park, ignoring commands and telling Fultz he could not hear him before flooring it back onto the interstate.
Lights Off, Speed Climbing, Trooper Left Behind
What followed was a chase that saw the Camry weave in and out of traffic while accelerating well over 100 mph, per the same account. At some point during the pursuit, the driver reportedly switched off all of the vehicle's lights, making the darkened sedan harder to track as it barreled toward the state line. Fultz activated his emergency lights and siren and gave chase, but the report notes he was unable to catch the vehicle before it crossed into Tennessee.
Arkansas State Police procedures generally require troopers to disengage pursuits at the Mississippi River border entering Memphis unless extraordinary cross-border coordination is in place, according to NEA Report. Fultz terminated the chase at the state line, in keeping with that practice, before continuing east and encountering the vehicle again shortly afterward, this time already crashed on Front Street in Memphis.
Driver Flees Crash Scene, Leaves Evidence Behind
According to Memphis Police, the driver fled the crash scene on foot before officers or troopers could make an arrest, and the darkened sedan had continued south on Front Street before coming to rest. Memphis Police took possession of the vehicle and the evidence found inside, recovering approximately five grams of marijuana and a Glock pistol from the Camry, which investigators identified as a dark blue 2020 Toyota Camry per the Arkansas State Police report.
Investigators also found a bill of sale inside containing a name and date of birth, which helped Fultz identify the driver as Juan Vertiz, described in the Arkansas State Police report as a Fort Smith man. Warrants were set to be issued for Vertiz, and public law enforcement advisories confirmed on August 26 that Arkansas State Police had filed formal warrant requests against him on five counts: fleeing, driving without a license, reckless driving, improper lane change, and operating without headlamps.
What Tennessee Law Says About the Recovered Items
Under Tennessee Code § 39-17-418, simple marijuana possession is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to 11 months and 29 days in jail plus fines starting at $250, according to Nashville Attorney Now. The Glock pistol found in the car is not automatically illegal on its own, since Tennessee Code § 39-17-1307(g) allows eligible adults to carry handguns without a permit, per the Giffords Law Center — though possession remains unlawful for prohibited individuals or when tied to other criminal conduct.
Back in Arkansas, the fleeing charge Vertiz faces carries its own weight. Fleeing by vehicle is normally a Class A misdemeanor under Ark. Code Ann. § 5-54-125, but it escalates to a Class D felony punishable by up to six years in state prison when a driver's conduct manifests extreme indifference to human life or creates substantial danger at high speed, according to FindLaw.
A Familiar Stretch of Highway for Arkansas Troopers
This was not an isolated incident for Fultz or for this stretch of I-40. Just five days later, on August 29, Fultz was involved in another high-speed pursuit along the same corridor in West Memphis, where a driver fleeing at over 80 mph was stopped via a tactical vehicle intervention and taken into custody by Fultz's K-9 unit, as Hoodline reported days later.
The Interstate 40 corridor linking Crittenden County to downtown Memphis has become a recurring flashpoint for these cross-border chases, with local authorities recording multiple incidents in 2025 and 2026 in which drivers fled troopers at speeds between 100 and 140 mph across the Mississippi River bridge, according to Local Memphis. The same stretch has also proven to be a major drug trafficking corridor; Arkansas Department of Public Safety data show troopers seized five kilograms of cocaine during a single traffic stop near the 273-mile marker in February 2025, underscoring why the roadway sees such dense enforcement.
Since 2023, Arkansas State Police Director Col. Mike Hagar has directed troopers to prioritize ending high-risk pursuits as quickly and safely as possible before fleeing vehicles reach urban areas or bridge crossings, per Local Memphis's reporting. That policy explains why Fultz broke off the chase at the state line rather than following Vertiz into Memphis, leaving Memphis Police to handle the crashed Camry and its contents once the pursuit crossed the river.
That handoff comes amid separate scrutiny of Memphis policing more broadly. A December 2024 U.S. Department of Justice civil rights report found that the Memphis Police Department engaged in a systemic pattern or practice of unlawful traffic stops and saturation enforcement tactics, adding context to the local law enforcement environment where the Front Street crash evidence was ultimately processed.
As of this report, it remains unknown whether Vertiz has been taken into custody on the outstanding Arkansas warrants, and it is unclear whether Tennessee authorities will file additional charges related to the marijuana or the Glock pistol recovered from the abandoned Camry. All named individuals are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
