Owen said the chase began about 4 p.m. when he and Troopers Damon Tucker and Cody Hyde observed two vehicles traveling over 85 miles per hour in a 70-mile-per-hour zone on Interstate 40 near Vian. One of the vehicles pulled over, but the other vehicle, a 1988 Ford Mustang, increased its speed and kept going, Owen said.
"We were going 130, and he was pulling away," Owen said.
Owen said he estimates the Mustang was going between 140 and 150 miles per hour.
Owen said they pursued the vehicle for almost seven miles when the driver took the Dwight Mission Exit at over 100 miles per hour, knocked down an Interstate 40 exit sign, and eventually had to stop after the vehicle had a flat tire.
Joseph Effrig, 20, of Sacramento, Calif., was arrested and booked into the Sequoyah County Jail in Sallisaw on charges of felony eluding police, reckless driving, failure to wear a seatbelt, and failure to register a vehicle.
A passenger in the vehicle who was the owner of the vehicle was not arrested. Effrig and the passenger told troopers they were on their way back to an Army base, Owen said.
Owen said the charge of eluding police was a felony because Effrig endangered the lives of other people. Owen said Effrig was passing people on either side of the roadway.
