TONTITOWN, Ark. (WWJ) — Two Metro Detroit men are in custody in Arkansas after allegedly leading police on a multi-state police chase in a stolen U-Haul van loaded with guns and explosive weapons.
Robert Mercier and Trenton Johnson, both 21 are facing more than a dozen charges after the chase that topped out at 120 mph and spanned Arkansas and Oklahoma, according to the Tontitown Police Department.
Both men had warrants out of Westland, wanted for “trying to run over multiple police officers,” according to Tontitown police. Court records list New Boston, Mich., as the last known address for the men, according to a report from the Associated Press.
Around 5 p.m. Wednesday Tontitown police were requested to assist multiple other agencies with a high-speed pursuit as it approached the city limits of Tontitown. The chase ultimately ended with a PIT maneuver on I-49 just outside the city.
Authorities say the officer that carried out the maneuver rolled multiple times, coming to rest in a field near a church on the side of the highway, a scene caught by dash camera and shared on social media.
Officers with the Locust Grove Police Department in Oklahoma, approximately 56 miles west of Tontitown, initiated the pursuit of an allegedly stolen U-Haul cargo van, chasing the suspects east on U.S. Highway 412.
At one point during the chase, officials say the van, driven by Mercier, hit another vehicle head-on near Colcord, OK, but continued to flee into Arkansas.
After the chase ended with the crash, officers found multiple firearms and improvised flammable devices, commonly referred to as "Molotov cocktails," inside the van, according to Tontitown police.
Mercier and Johnson were being held in the Benton County Detention Center, as of Thursday afternoon.
They've been charged with three counts of aggravated assault, criminal conspiracy, possession of destructive devices, felony fleeing, second-degree battery, four counts of criminal mischief, resisting arrest and multiple felony charges from other agencies.
Authorities say four Tontitown police cars and several other cars from agencies between Locust Grove and Springdale were damaged during the chase.
It is not immediately clear whether the men will be extradited to Michigan.