The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office seized over 25 ounces of methamphetamine and nearly 10 grams of cocaine after a suspect struck a deputy while fleeing police.
According to Pulaski County Sheriff Greg Speck, detectives with the agency’s Narcotic’s Division were conducting traffic interdiction in the southern part of the county Wednesday night when police observed a “suspicious” 2012 Ford F150.
Police ran the license plate and discovered insurance on the vehicle could not be verified. Detectives executed a traffic stop at the intersection of Hwy 914 and Hwy 1247.
Police made contact with the driver, 61-year-old Gary L. Voiles, of London, and passenger, 55-year-old John B. Carico, of Cambridge City, Indiana (about 30 miles east of Indianapolis). Voiles provided police with an expired insurance card, and at the same time K-9 Officer Rocky arrived on scene with his handler.
The K-9 alerted to the presence of drugs while being walked around the vehicle, police said.
Voiles was removed from the vehicle, and as officers attempted to removed Carico, he slid to the driver’s seat and fled the scene, striking a deputy and nearly striking Voiles, according to Speck.
The pursuit, which Speck said reached speeds well over 100 miles per hour, involved multiple law enforcement officers and several agencies as Carico fled onto Hwy 80 toward Somerset. Carico exited Hwy 80 at Somerset where the Somerset Police Department deployed stop sticks, bringing the chase to an end.
Police “began back tracking the area covered during the pursuit,” Speck said, where officers “located a bag approximately 50 yards from the site of the original traffic stop.”
Upon examining the contents of the bag, deputies “discovered a large quantity of methamphetamine, cocaine and Gabapentin” pills, packaged separately.
“After further investigation, it was determined the substances came from inside of the vehicle, after Carico fled,” Speck said.
It was later determined that 26 ounces of methamphetamine, 9.8 grams of cocaine and 102 Gabapentin pills had been tossed from the vehicle by Carico. The methamphetamine, depending on the quality, is worth between $5,500 and $6,000, according to addictionresource.com.
Carico was charged with three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance (methamphetamine, cocaine), third-degree assault of a police officer, multiple counts of first-degree wanton endangerment, fleeing or evading police (motor vehicle), reckless driving, speeding 26 mph or more over the limit, and driving on a suspended/revoked license.
Voiles was charged with three counts of trafficking in a controlled substance (methamphetamine, cocaine) and failure to maintain insurance.
Both suspects were lodged in the Pulaski County Detention Center.
The Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office was assisted in the pursuit and/or investigation by the Somerset Police Department, Kentucky State Police, Ferguson Police Department, Kentucky Department of Corrections (Probation and Parole), the U.S. Marshals Service, and the FBI.
(Headline photo l-r: John B. Carico, Gary L. Voiles)
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
