Sharpton’s Driver Said To Lead Police On Nine-Mile Chase
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
WAXAHACHIE, Texas – A driver for the Reverend Al Sharpton led Ellis County sheriff’s deputies on a nine mile chase at speeds up to 110 mph before state troopers stopped the car, authorities said.
The civil rights activist called the sheriff’s report “ludicrous on its face” and accused the officers of “embellishing the story.”
“That nine-mile chase is news to me,” Rev. Sharpton told the Associated Press. “All I know is that the police pulled us over because they wanted to talk to the driver about speeding. Other volunteers in the car asked if they could go on and take me to the airport, and that’s what we did.”
Chief Deputy Charles Sullins said the driver was rushing Rev. Sharpton to the airport after Rev. Sharpton visited anti-war activist Cindy Sheehan on Sunday at her camp outside President Bush’s ranch in Crawford. He said the car carrying Rev. Sharpton and two other passengers was clocked doing 110 mph in a 65-mph zone on Interstate 35 in Ellis County in North Texas.
The driver ignored deputies’ attempts to stop it and continued speeding and weaving in and out of traffic for nine miles before troopers were able to get in front of the car and stop it, Mr. Sullins said.
Deputies arrested the driver, Jarrett Barton Maupin, 43, of Phoenix.
Rev. Sharpton said he made his scheduled flight to New York from Dallas.
