Local man dies following crash in police chase
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
From Staff Reports
__________
A 50-year-old Perry County man died Tuesday not long after crashing a motorcycle during a high-speed chase involving law enforcement.
According to County Coroner Mike Malone, Henry Edward ‘Eddie’ Pittman, of Beaumont, was pronounced dead at Perry County General Hospital shortly after 9 p.m. Tuesday. Pittman arrived at the hospital by ambulance after reportedly crashing a motorcycle at the intersection of Brewertown Road and Narvel Brewer Road just inside Wayne County.
Perry County Sheriff Mitch Nobles said in a press release Wednesday that deputies in his department were pursuing Pittman after receiving a reckless driver complaint.
“On June 27, 2023, a little after 6 p.m., we received a 911 call about a reckless driver on Hwy. 42, west of Richton, traveling towards Richton,” Nobles said in the release. “The caller stated the driver was Henry Edward Pittman, 50 w/m, and she said he was trying to run her off the road. The caller advised he was on a white motorcycle. Dispatch notified Richton Police Department.”
According to Sheriff Nobles, a Perry County Deputy, who was on duty in the Richton area, responded to the call and attempted a traffic stop on Pittman just east of Richton. Pittman allegedly refused to stop and the deputy remained in pursuit of him until the wreck occurred.
“The deputy immediately requested an ambulance, and Mr. Pittman was transported to Perry County General Hospital,” Nobles said in the release. “He was responsive at the time he left with the ambulance.”
Coroner Malone told The Dispatch that Pittman was injured in the wreck, but was alive and responsive at the emergency room before taking a sudden turn for the worse. Malone declined to speculate on the cause of death, saying instead that he would await the results of an autopsy he has ordered.
In his press release, Nobles said there was a history of domestic altercations between the unidentified 911 caller and Pittman and that there was a standing protection order for Pittman to not have any contact with the caller or her mother.
Nobles added that officers recovered 19 grams of crystal meth and a handgun at the crash scene, which had presumably been in Pittman’s possession at the time of the wreck.
Officers from the Richton Police Department and the Greene County Sheriff’s Office responded to the crash scene. According to reports from Wayne County, officers there were aware of the pursuit and had set up to form a road block further into Wayne County. After the wreck, Wayne County officers responded to the scene and are in charge of the investigation into the crash.
