Local man apprehended after high speed chase and swim across Pearl River
After eluding law enforcement authorities on November 8, 2018, in north Picayune (previous coverage), Marc Rice (pictured below in a previous booking photo), age 22, of 13 Diamond Lane in Picayune, was captured on Thursday after a hide speed car chase, a swim across the Pearl River, and a foot chase in the Honey Island Swamp in St Tammany Parish in Louisiana. The day began with another objective according to Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison
Sheriff Allison said that early Thursday morning (February 28, 2019), at around 5:00 a.m., the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Office (PRCSO) personnel along with the Picayune Police Department, the Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Mississippi Department of Corrections, and the U.S. Marshal Service met at Chimney Square on Goodyear Blvd in Picayune to prepare to do a roundup of some Latin King gang members that were recently indicted.
With a large amount of officers out in the area for the roundup, Sheriff Allision said they issued a BOLO (Be On the Look Out) for the vehicle that Marc Rice was last known to be driving.
Sheriff Allison said a PRCSO deputy happened to see the vehicle on Burnt Bridge Road and attempted to execute a traffic stop, but Rice sped off in his vehicle heading east on Burnt Bridge Road (which becomes Palestine Road) and turned right on Koch Road reaching speeds of 100 mph during the chase. Rice turned left onto Huppo Road and then right on Union School Road. Rice turned left at Charlotte Drive into the Ponderosa subdivision where he lost control of his vehicle and went into the yard of a residence.
At this time, it appeared that law enforcement personnel had Rice’s vehicle pinned in, but Rice found an opening through some bushes by the house at residence and was able to maneuver the vehicle and elude the authorities. Before Rice was able to drive away, deputies were able to shoot and deflate both tires on the driver’s side of the vehicle according to Sheriff Allison. The deputies also noticed that Rice had a female passenger with him in the vehicle.
After the tires were deflated, Sheriff Allison said Rice was only able to reach a speed of around 35 mph in his vehicle. Rice left the Ponderosa subdivision via Charlotte Drive and Laura Drive and got back on Union School Road heading southbound toward Jackson Landing Road. Rice turned right on Jackson Landing Road, went through the two sharp left turns on Jackson Landing Road, going straight onto a private driveway in the second sharp turn in the road. He proceeded down the private driveway and busted through two gates, and finally came to a stop at the East Pearl River and exited his vehicle.
Rice jumped in the river and began to swim across toward the Louisiana side. Two deputies immediately removed their gear and jumped into the river going after Rice. When other deputies arrived at the river, they found a boat nearby and used the boat to pickup the two deputies pursuing Rice in the river. They went to the Louisiana side and chased Rice through the woods.
Rice was able to get to a hunting camp ahead of the deputies. When a deputy confronted Rice on the front porch of the camp, Rice had a fan in his hands that he was using in an attempt to bust out the glass door on the camp. When Rice could not bust the glass with the fan, he threw it at the deputy. Rice then picked up a metal chair, busted the glass door on the camp on his second attempt, threw the chair at the deputy, and went into the camp.
Sheriff Allison stated that at this time other deputies arrived the camp and along with the first deputy to arrive at the camp, went into the kitchen area of the camp and apprehended Rice. Rice resisted and was able to get one of two baseball sized balls of methamphetamine he had with him to his mouth and began to eat it. Deputies were able to subdue Rice and attempted to remove the meth from his mouth.
The deputies called AAA Ambulance Service due to Rice ingesting some of the methamphetamine. The ambulance waited at the Pearl River Turnaround on Interstate 59 because AAA personnel were not comfortable bringing their unit to the camp due to the condition of the road leading to the area near the camp.
The deputies transported Rice to the location where the ambulance was staged for paramedics to check his vital signs. They reported that his blood pressure and his heart rate was very high. At this point, Rice was loaded into the ambulance accompanied by U.S. Marshals and taken to an undisclosed hospital in Slidell according to Sheriff Allison.
Sheriff Allison said St. Tammany Parish authorities will be charging Rice with burglary of the hunting camp and possession of the methamphetamine he had at the camp. PRCSO will charge him for felony fleeing and other charges for his actions during the day related to his fleeing.
The PRCSO will place a hold on Rice with St Tammany Parish for his extradition back to Mississippi according to Sheriff Allison.
Sheriff Allison said there were outstanding warrants for Rice for Grand Larceny and Possession of a Weapon by a Convicted Felon.
Sheriff Allison would like to thank all of the law enforcement officers who assisted in the pursuit and capture of Rice as well as the operation on the gang members that was also carried out on Thursday.
Allison said he will have a press release on that operation forthcoming.
