What police believed was going to be a drug deal turned into an apparent attempted armed robbery at Marion-Crittenden County Park just before noon today. The whole deal went down in front of undercover officers who were hiding nearby, hoping to make a drug bust using a confidential informant.Five men were arrested at the scene. Their identities have not been released. Most are believed to be from Eddyville.
Police fired several shots to stop one man trying to get away in a car. The vehicle eventually ran off the road and into a creek.
Det. Robbie Kirk of the Pennyrile Area Narcotics Task Force, Crittenden County Deputy Greg Rushing and Marion Policemen Chief Ray O'Neal and Officer Bobby West were watching the deal go down from hiding places near the park. It was supposed to be a two-pound marijuana transaction. However, when the alleged sellers showed up, they had something else in mind. They got out of their vehicle with a weapon and began assaulting, and attempting to rob the informant and another man involved in the transaction. Only the informant knew that cops were nearby watching the deal go down.
When police raced in to break up the fight, the man carrying a long gun dropped it and attempted to run. Another suspect tried to leave the scene in a blue car. Police ordered him to stop, but he kept backing away on a snowy road. That's when at least one officer opened fire on the car, hitting it several times on the hood. The driver backed off into a creek that runs along Old Morganfield Road.
Stay tuned for more details.
Pictured above are officers trying to get the driver of the car to get out. All of them have their weapons trained on the man behind the wheel. At first, he would not obey their orders to get out with his hands up, but State Trooper Darron Holliman finally got him out of the car. He was slightly injured from the crash, but had not been hit by any of the bullets.
