Published: April 08, 2008 08:06 am      

Driver arrested after car chase

Driving 20 miles an hour in a 35-mph zone on Second Street was the first thing Madison County Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Marcum noticed about Mark Fitzpatrick’s driving.

It was about 9:45 p.m., but through the lights of downtown Richmond, Marcum noticed Fitzpatrick wasn’t wearing a seat belt, either. When he called dispatch and gave them the driver’s license plate number, Marcum said he discovered Fitzpatrick was driving with a suspended operator’s license.

“I thought, well, that’s three things,” Marcum said. “I’ll stop him and see what his deal is.”

With his blue lights activated, Marcum said it looked like Fitzpatrick, 41, of Richmond, was going to stop for the red light at the intersection of Second and Irvine streets. But he didn’t.

“He turned down toward third street and then he just took off,” Marcum said.

Driving a 1999 blue Ford Explorer, Marcum said Fitzpatrick drove down Third Street, came back out on Second Street headed toward Madison Central High School and continued down Red House Road.

“He crossed the tracks and we came back out on (KY) 627, Old Boonesborough Road, all the way to where we crossed into Clark County,” Marcum said.

Throughout the pursuit, Marcum said Fitzpatrick allegedly drove through the city and county roads at speeds of about 80 to 85 mph. Clark County law enforcement had been made aware of the pursuit prior to crossing the county lines and they were ready with spike strips.

However, Fitzpatrick allegedly made a right turn off Old Boonesborough Road and headed down a gravel lane, Marcum said.

“He was going up the gravel too far, coming through a curve and he slid off the road, down a little embankment and down into a creek,” Marcum said.

Beside the creek was a steep hill, and when Marcum and the two other officers attempted to catch Fitzpatrick — MCSO Deputy Sam Manley and Kentucky State Police Trooper Bubba Botkin — caught up at the crash site, Fitzpatrick allegedly had begun climbing the hill.

“We had to go through the creek ourselves,” Marcum said. “There was a pasture at the top. It was pretty steep, but we were right on him, though. He actually hid out in the field.”

The resident of the farm where Fitzpatrick allegedly fled had been listening to the pursuit coming toward him on the scanner, Marcum said.

“He already knew he was coming up the lane,” he said. “He jumped out and got in his pickup truck. He said, ‘He’s not going to tear my field out.’”

Fitzpatrick was apprehended in the field and was arrested at 10:16 p.m., Marcum said. He was charged with failure to wear a seat belt, first-degree fleeing and evading police, failure to maintain/no insurance, second-degree wanton endangerment (police officer), no registration receipt and having a suspended driver’s license.

The wanton endangerment charge stems from attempts allegedly made by Fitzpatrick to hit Marcum by stomping on his brakes while Marcum was behind him. Fitzpatrick was checked for drug and alcohol intoxication and his tests came back clean, Marcum said. He was alone in the vehicle with him at the time of the pursuit and was not injured in the crash.

No charges were filed in Clark County. Fitzpatrick is lodged in the Madison County Detention Center on a $10,000 cash bond.

Kelly Foreman can be reached at kforeman@richmondregister.com or 624-6694.