CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Tenn. — A man has been arrested after a high-speed chase that ended in Cumberland County following reports alleging that a woman and three children were held against their will, according to the Tennessee Highway Patrol.
On Sunday around 2:05 p.m., THP was dispatched to I-40 westbound near the 347-mile marker regarding a vehicle of interest.
The THP Communications Center said there was a red Ford Mustang with possibly five occupants, including a male driver, a woman and three juvenile children. There was information that came into the communication center alleging that the woman and the children were being held against their will.
The trooper responding told the communication center that he did have visual contact with a vehicle that met the description given to him.
Troopers followed the vehicle to receive any additional information, then initiated all emergency equipment to stop the vehicle. The vehicle stopped at mile marker 340 on I-40 westbound.
As troopers attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the driver stepped out of the vehicle and then got back into the vehicle speeding off westbound on I-40.
Troopers then began to chase the vehicle westbound on I-40 traveling into Cumberland County at high rates of speed.
The chase ended at the 318-mile marker westbound on I-40 as troopers arrested the driver and checked the welfare of the woman and the children. The children were ages 3, 8, and 12, according to a report.
The driver was identified as David V. Edwards Jr., 31, of North Carolina.
No injuries were reported and the investigation is still ongoing with officials out of North Carolina.
Edwards was charged with evading arrest and three counts of reckless endangerment. He was sent to the Roane County jail.