Driver identified in wreck that injured baby and officer

Update Wednesday:

The driver from Tuesday’s vehicle chase has been identified as 29-year-old Jamie L. Farrar of Oklahoma.

He was arrested on suspicion of two counts of aggravated battery, two counts of theft, aggravated child endangerment, aggravated assault, flee and elude and DUI, according to the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office.

Original Tuesday:

A baby who was in the driver’s seat of a pickup being chased by police in western Sedgwick County was hurt when the pursuit ended with a wreck.

The child was taken to a hospital, as was the driver of the vehicle that collided with the fleeing pickup, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release. A Cheney police officer was also hurt and went home. The suspect in the pursuit was captured and taken to a hospital.

A Sedgwick County dispatch supervisor said a call came at around 2:15 p.m. for a traffic pursuit in the 300 block of West Third Avenue in Cheney. Due to the nature of the call, additional information was not released by dispatchers.

Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Lt. Tim Myers said in a statement that the Kingman County Sheriff’s Office had taken a report of a stolen Ford pickup truck in Norwich.

“A citizen was reporting her child’s husband took their infant child got into this truck and took off possibly in route to Cheney,” Myers said.

A Cheney police officer spotted the vehicle at around 2:20 p.m. and the chase began. The truck driver drove through fields, and the officer’s vehicle hit a ditch, “causing severe damage to the police vehicle and injuring (the officer’s) shoulder,” Myers said.

The suspect drove back onto the roadway before reaching the intersection of 15th South and 359th West, where the pickup driver ignored a stop sign. Another vehicle then collided with the truck.

The suspect was arrested and taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

“A baby was in the driver’s seat with the suspect and had possibly serious injuries,” Myers said.

The child was taken to Wesley Medical Center. The driver of the other vehicle involved in the crash was taken to Ascension Via Christi St. Francis with minor injuries. The Cheney officer had minor injuries and went home.

Contributing: Michael Stavola of The Eagle

This story was originally published July 14, 2020 at 9:11 PM.