3 hurt, including Augusta police officer after chase ends in crash

AUGUSTA, Kan. (KWCH) - Tuesday update: The Kansas Highway Patrol crash log identifies 44-year-old Allan Milton Firman III of Wichita as the driver in the crash that led to the injury of an Augusta police officer.

The log indicates that Firman was attempting to elude pursuit by a Butler County Sheriff’s Department vehicle when he crashed into the left rear corner of a vehicle driven by Augusta police officer Kyle Sisco.

Firman and his passenger, a 47-year-old Derby woman, were hospitalized with potentially serious injuries. Sisco complained of pain and was also hospitalized.

The Butler County Sheriff’s Office said the chase began at about 6 p.m. with deputies responding to the Butler County-Greenwood County line on US 400 for a vehicle that failed to yield to Greenwood County deputies.

“It had been reported that a pickup truck pulling an empty boat trailer had struck another motorist, and after being located by law enforcement, refused to stop,” the Butler County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release providing details into the events leading up to the crash in Augusta. “As the truck reached the county line on US 400, the pursuing Greenwood County deputy stopped pursuing. A short time later, Butler County Emergency Communications received another call of a reckless driver involving a vehicle matching the description of the truck and trailer pursued by Greenwood County.”

The sheriff’s office said reports indicated that the truck was driven into oncoming traffic at a high rate of speed in a construction zone near Beaumont. A deputy then spotted the truck heading west in the area of US 400 and Pickrell Road. The deputy tried to stop the pickup but the driver continued west. The sheriff’s office said deputies set up tire deflation devices along the highway ahead of a fleeing truck and at one point, the driver swerved into the median to avoid the device. In that process, the fleeing pickup nearly hit a deputy, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said that the pickup continued west in the eastbound lanes of US 400 and deputies deployed another tire deflation device near US 400 and Lunger Road on the east side of Augusta.

The pickup entered the city of Augusta and hit the police vehicle.

“The truck was disabled and the driver (Firman) was taken into custody,” the Butler County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff’s office said Firman was arrested for fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, drug charges, driving under the influence, transporting an open container and reckless driving.

Firman, booked into the Butler County Jail, is set to make his first court appearance on Wednesday afternoon.

A report of a reckless driver in Butler County led to a chase that ended in a crash in Augusta with two people injured, including an Augusta police officer. Butler County dispatch confirmed the call, reported a little before 6 p.m., started near Highway 54 and Haverhill Road.

An ensuing chase ended with the crash near East 7th Avenue and State Street, in Augusta. Butler County dispatch confirmed one person with minor injuries and a second with serious but non-life-threatening injuries. Dispatch also confirmed a suspect was arrested at the scene in Augusta.