Police Chase Through Two Cities

A spokesperson for Ridgeland’s Police Department says an officer shot and wounded a house burglary suspect who attempted to run him over with a stolen vehicle.  After a chase through Ridgeland and Jackson, police arrested 51-year-old Stephen Anderson when he crashed the car he was driving.

The robbery happened around Sunday evening on Mockingbird Lane in Ridgeland.  Anderson crashed the stolen vehicle at the intersection of Rondo and Erie Streets in Jackson.

Anderson was approached by the homeowner who was unable to detain him before police arrived.  The homeowner would not talk about the incident to News Channel 12.  Police say he suffered minor scrapes and bruises.  All of the items taken during the robbery were recovered.

Anderson is charged with unarmed carjacking, house burglary, fleeing and simple assault.  He was transported to University of Mississippi Medical Center for a single gun shot wound to the shoulder.  The officer who shot Anderson was transported to Baptist Hospital for minor injuries.  He’s been released and is on paid administrative leave.  Ridgeland’s Police Department and the Madison County District Attorney’s Office are investigating the robbery and the crash.

“Just with the blink of an eye, it turned deadly to him,“ said Lt. John Neal.  “He had to take deadly force action to protect his own life.“

   
78-year-old Elizabeth Moore witnessed Anderson wreck his car from her porch.  But it wasn’t the crash that bothered her.  It was what she says happened when the Anderson surrendered.

“The policeman started hitting him with his fists, and I stood up and said you beating him,“ she said.  “I know the man was wrong, but for him to just beat him, it hurt me.“

Moore says about 15 police cars lined her street after they cordoned off the area with yellow, caution tape.  She says Anderson must face the consequences for his actions, but says what happened hasn’t changed her opinion about where she lives.

“This is a nice neighborhood,“ she said.  “I go anywhere I want to go.“

This is the second time a Ridgeland police officer has had to shoot a suspect in the last two years.  In January of 2008, an officer shot and killed a man from Arkansas.  An officer shot 50-year-old Michael Van Loftin after a police chase that ended on Wheatley Street near County Line Road.

   
Police say they saw Van Loftin driving a stolen truck with a Texas tag, and he reportedly refused to stop.  Witnesses say when police cornered him, he fired at the officers, who shot back.