Ark Valley News - Suspect in police pursuits arrested

Suspect in police pursuits arrested
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: September 22, 2016

A rural Valley Center man was arrested Sept. 15 after he was allegedly involved in a car chase in town as school was being let out.

The chase, which started in Park City, came into the city about 3:45 p.m.

A Sedgwick County sheriff's patrol vehicle was damaged when it bottomed out near Third and Dexter, the sheriff's office reported.

Valley Center officers joined the chase.

When the suspect's vehicle ran a stop light at Fifth and Meridian, officers called off the chase. By then, authorities knew the suspect's name and where he would possibly go, Sgt. Lloyd Newman said.

Newman said the suspect traveled west on Fifth to Sheridan, south to Main Street and then west out of town.

Jacob Lee Cox, 30, was subsequently arrested at 7500 W. 85th North. He was found hiding in the basement, police said.

Cox was booked into jail Sept. 15 on charges of failure to comply, failure to appear in court, obstruction, fleeing and eluding law enforcement officers and driving with a suspended license.

This wasn't the first time Cox was the suspect in a car chase. He and two other people were arrested July 26 when a vehicle he was driving ended up in a field west of Valley Center after a chase that started south of Valley Center, police said. That incident also resulted in a damaged law enforcement cruiser when a Valley Center police car crashed into a second vehicle at 85th and Ridge.

Cox also was convicted of fleeing and attempting to elude law enforcement officers after a June 2014 incident in Sedgwick County.

In addition, Cox is accused of burglarizing the North Meridian storage facility in Valley Center this summer.