Benton, IL - High Speed Chase - Crash - Sheriff Severely Injured - Attempted Theft of Franklin Co. Sheriff's Car
Benton Evening News
May 2, 2007
High-speed chase results in injury to Johnson Co.
sheriff, arrest of local resident
A two-car collision Tuesday afternoon on Interstate 57 closed the southbound
lane for nearly three hours - and led to congested traffic throughout Franklin
County. Johnson County Sheriff Elry Faulkner was seriously injured in the wreck.
A Franklin County man who had told family members he wanted to be buried in a
white coffin used a stolen car Tuesday to ram a Johnson County squad car at
high speed and leave Sheriff Elry Faulkner seriously injured.
The man, Dale W. Slaton, 33, was not injured when he drove the car - at a
speed in excess of 100 miles per hour - directly into Faulkner's squad car on
Interstate 57. The accident closed the southbound lane of the interstate for
nearly three hours.
Faulkner had been traveling south on I-57 returning a prisoner to Johnson County
at the when he apparently heard radio traffic and pulled over to assist.
“He told the prisoner, ‘You better buckle up, we might have to help these
boys,'” the prisoner told authorities later, according to Franklin County
Sheriff Bill Wilson.
Faulkner underwent surgery overnight at St. Francis Medical Center in Cape
Girardeau, Mo.
And, according to Wilson, Faulkner is lucky to be alive.
“We received a (note) from Johnson County that said Elry suffered a ripped
diaphragm, several broken bones and had to have six inches of his intestines
removed,” Wilson said. “But they didn't have to remove his spleen. They don't
believe the injuries are life-threatening.”
According to reports, Slaton had been living in Benton recently when his
personal life began to unravel.
“He was just looking for someone to get in the way,” Wilson said.
Wilson provided the following time line:
2:17 p.m. - Slaton allegedly stole a Lincoln Town Car in Benton.
2:26 p.m. - Slaton went to the home of a relative in Ewing. There he used
the stolen car to strike the relative. “He just backed up the driveway and rams
(the relative),” Wilson said. After getting the vehicle stuck in the mud, Slaton
got out and reportedly used his fists to “pound” on the relative.
2:35 p.m. - Slaton stole a Mercury Topaz.
2:39 - Was seen by a deputy sheriff driving south on Route 37 at a high rate
of speed.
2:41 p.m. - Attempted to ram a Benton patrol car, which had to leave the roadway
to avoid a crash.
2:42 p.m. - Struck a West City patrol car driven by Chief Steve Mumbower.
Mumbower said he had responded to a brush fire car nearby when he heard radio
traffic concerning the chase. At the intersection of Illinois 37 and Petroff
Road, Mumbower was waiting to turn left when the car driven by Slaton
approached. “At the last second, he swerved and there was light impact, tearing
off the rear bumper.”
2:46 p.m. - Pursuit picked up by a Benton officer on North Main Street in
Benton.
2:48 p.m. - Rammed the Johnson County squad car.
3:09 p.m. - While shackled and handcuffed, Slaton kicked out the rear window
of a Franklin County deputy sheriff's car.
3:10 p.m. - Crawled out the back window and attempted to steal
the squad car.
3:12 p.m. - Attempted to carjack a civilian's vehicle but was unsuccessful.
3:17 p.m. - Placed in custody at Franklin County Jail.
Mumbower said officers, including him and Benton Chief Mike O'Neill, pursued the
fleeing Mercury north of I-57 from the Benton exit.
He said he expected the worse when he saw one of the Topaz's tires lying near a
crossover near the 77 mile marker.
“(The Topaz), on three wheels, was weaving between a Budget truck and a semi,”
Mumbower said. “”He was driving like there was nothing wrong.”
“I saw (Sheriff Faulkner's) car parked at the edge of the southbound lane,”
Mumbower said. “It's like Slaton made a bee-line on a set of train tracks into
the squad car and hit it broadside.”
“It was an incredibly, incredibly horrifying crash,” Mumbower said. “I didn't
see how anyone could have survived. It was the most horrifying thing I have ever
seen, and I don't ever want to see it again.”
He said Faulkner's prisoner, who was being returned to Johnson County to face
car theft charges, was injured in the crash.
“(The prisoner) was worried only about the Sheriff. He was begging us to help
Sheriff Faulkner,” Mumbower said. “That is a testament to the Sheriff. All he
wanted was to help the Sheriff.”
Slaton was arrested for unlawful use of a weapon and theft over $300. Other
charges are pending.