03/28/12 Springer, OK – Prisoner Steals DOC Van From Lexington Correctional Facility – 90 MPH Weaving Chase – Crash – Totaled Highway Patrol Car

March 28, 2012

ardmoreite.com

An inmate’s run for freedom fell short Tuesday afternoon as a dangerous situation was resolved without serious injury in a three-vehicle accident.

David Hammock escaped from the Lexington correctional facility in a stolen Department of Corrections van. The inmate evaded detection until he was sighted near Pauls Valley, headed south on Interstate 35. At that point, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol began pursuit in force.

“The maximum speed reached during the pursuit was 90 miles per hour,” Capt. Ronnie Hampton, Commander, Troop F, said. “He drove in the left hand lane heading south. We set up a roadblock at the 45 mile marker with a tire deflating device and he swerved around it and missed it.”

The pursuit ended at the 41-mile marker. Two troopers parked on the side of the road in an attempt at traffic control with three more OHP units stationed three miles down the highway for another roadblock. With traffic slowing down, Hammock attempted to pass between two cars traveling at an estimated 65 miles per hour. The maneuver failed as Hammock hit a vehicle, went off the roadway and hit an OHP unit which was parked on the grass.

Hammock was taken back into custody without serious injury. Hampton said the passengers in the vehicle Hammock struck were checked out at the scene of the accident by medical personnel and refused treatment.

“It’s all you can do,” Hampton said. “Our plan if he got past the roadblock was to spin him out.”

Hammock is currently serving four years for burglary, second degree and a 17 year sentence for arson, second degree