SPD arrests suspect following overnight chopper surveillance, foot chase

The Sterlington Police Department has taken a suspect into custody following an overnight chase that started with a wreck.

Posts on the department Facebook page concerning the incident started around midnight. 

Per the posts, a man driving a vehicle stolen in Morehouse Parish crashed it into a vehicle parked at the Chevron on the corner of U.S. 165 and Louisiana 2. 

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Sterlington Police officers were nearby and on scene immediately. When they saw the suspect leaving the scene, they gave chase, Chief Barry Bonner said. 

The man, later identified as John F. Eave, 18, Bastrop, ran across 165 and through a field, evading officers for a time period in the vicinity of Kingsfield Loop. 

Bonner said deputies from the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office responded and a National Guard helicopter out on maneuvers assisted in the search at different times of the night. 

The suspect was later seen running along 165 and officers chased him on foot along the highway before he disappeared in the Eastlake and Westlake area. 

Bonner said there was only one way for the suspect to exit Eastlake, so officers established a perimeter and monitored for the suspect. Shortly after 7 a.m. Saturday, he was seen walking on Eastlake Road and taken into custody.

The stolen vehicle was reportedly taken from a ballpark in Bastrop late Friday. 

Eave was booked into Ouachita Correctional Center at 9:16 a.m. on charges of driver must be licensed, theft of a motor vehicle, resisting an officer, failure to report an accident and careless operation.

Bond on misdemeanor charges has been set at $1,050. Bond on the charge of felony theft of a motor vehicle has not been set. 

This story will be updated as more information becomes available. 

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