A Mississippi State instructor was charged with five misdemeanor counts and three felony counts following a low-speed car chase and subsequent arrest Feb. 18.Drew David Pruett, 27, a foreign language lecturer, lead Oktibbeha County police officers on a pursuit through the city’s downtown area after failing to pull over.
County Sheriff Dolph Bryan said Deputy Brandon Griggs tried to pull Pruett over shortly after 10 p.m. that night. Bryan said Pruett was driving his black 2005 Honda Civic with no headlights on.
Griggs then attempted to pull Pruett over at a traffic stop, but Pruett continued to drive.
Griggs followed Pruett through multiple Starkville streets, primarily Collegeview Street, Hartness Street, Miss. Highway 182, Nash Street and University Drive for several minutes.
Bryan said Deputies Andrew Fountain and Jon Davis joined the chase along with assistant shift commanding Deputy Steven Phelps.
“It was not a high-speed chase; it was a very-slow speed chase,” Bryan said. “He just would not stop. We went around and around.”
While on University Drive, Pruett changed directions close to Old West Point Road and headed east toward the MSU campus.
Pruett had to swerve to avoid hitting Davis in the westbound lane on the Kansas City Southern Railroad bridge.
Pruett turned back into the eastbound lane and struck a guardrail while driving on the sidewalk.
Still continuing eastbound, Pruett’s Civic hit Fountain’s car head-on. As he continued to drive, Pruett sideswiped Griggs’ car.
Griggs and Phelps followed Pruett as he pulled into the entrance to City Bagel Cafe on University Drive.
After leaving the City Bagel Cafe lot, Pruett clipped a red pick-up truck that had just pulled into a driveway of a University Drive home. He then drove through a small landscaped part of the home’s driveway and pulled into the driveway behind the house.
Bryan said the deputies cornered Pruett in the driveway and pulled him from his vehicle.
The chase lasted about five to 10 minutes and no one was injured, Bryan said.
Pruett was charged with reckless driving, disregarding traffic, driving under the influence first offense, improper equipment and driving on the wrong side of the road.
He received three felony charges, two counts of assaulting an officer and one count of fleeing.
Pruett was put on a $10,000 bail for the assault charges.
Bryan said Pruett’s bail was posted the next afternoon at about 1 p.m.
“His dad signed his bond to get him out of jail,” Bryan said.
Pruett, who currently resides in Starkville, is from Tupelo. He is a Mississippi State graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and a Bachelor of Arts in French. He has been teaching two sections of French I this semester.
Foreign Language Department head Edmond Emplaincourt declined to comment.
Senior English major Luke Abel, who is a student in Pruett’s French I class, said Pruett failed to show up for his 8 a.m. classes on Feb. 16, 19 and 21.
Abel said he was unaware of Pruett’s arrest.
Pruett will face a hearing in the Starkville justice court soon, Bryan said.
Bryan said that the incident started because Pruett did not have his headlights on while driving.
“[This is] kind of a simple thing to end up in so much trouble over,” Bryan said. “Good people do foolish things sometimes.