ELIZABETHTOWN, Ky. — Kentucky State Police (KSP) have identified the man accused of leading troopers on a high-speed chase through Hardin County late Thursday afternoon.
Troopers were conducting a traffic stop on 26-year-old Jecore King, of Eight Mile, Alabama, for speeding around 4 p.m. on I-65 North.
The officer smelled the possible presence of marijuana in the car and asked King to step out of the vehicle.
"After asking Mr. King to step outside the vehicle, a struggle ensued before King returned to the car and fled from the trooper," a police spokesperson said Friday.
During the chase, KSP said King passed other cars using the emergency lane and was, at times, driving nearly 130 mph.
Eventually, police said King's car hit an embankment and he then got out of the car and fled into a nearby cornfield with a handgun.
After an hours-long manhunt, authorities were able to locate and arrest King with the help of the Elizabethtown Police Department's special response team and KSP's aircraft branch.
King has been charged with fleeing and evading, reckless driving, resisting arrest, wanton endangerment, and a number of other traffic-related charges. He's being held at the Hardin County Detention Center.
I-65 North and South Dixie Highway in Glendale were both shutdown for hours while police searched for King.
KSP said the investigation remains under investigation.
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