Locals react to police chase in Harrison County

Today’s police chase had drivers stopping in their tracks on I-10 on the Coast today. Several viewers sent their videos to us as the situation unfolded.

Many South Mississippi motorists’ Monday afternoon commute was slowed nearly to a halt on I-10 as a multi-agency pursuit of 30-year-old Louisiana man Eric Derell Smith was in progress.

Former Firefighter and current Pascagoula resident Luke Gray was traveling on the interstate when he saw local law enforcement on stand-by along the side of the road. That’s when Gray knew something was wrong. “When we finally got towards the larger police presence, I would say we were at Lamey Bridge Road on I-10 and then we started seeing about eight police cars lined up off to the side and the police officers were full of tact gear. So, I’m like ‘uh oh’. Not a good day.”

Once he started noticing the police were coming closer, Gray made a swift exit. Seeing that many law enforcement vehicles without knowing what was going on unsettled Gray. “Honestly it gave be a little bit of a panic attack. I mean you don’t really see these things and so you almost prepare kinda like for the worst in a way mentally because as a driver you want to get off the road and you want to be out of harm’s way. Immediately my first thought is it’s not safe. They should just go ahead and shut the interstate down and get this taken care of before someone really gets hurt.”

Despite wishing he was informed of the pursuit on I-10 and the possible danger of traveling on the interstate, Gray believes local law enforcement was impressive given the circumstances. “What they did today was phenomenal. They could’ve done a little bit better, but that’s not for me to sit here and judge. I mean they did what they felt like they could do with the resources they had. In time of crisis, you really don’t have time to sit there and tell people hey this is what’s going on. You’re trying to do damage control and then figure out what’s going on afterwards.”