A motorist in a dark colored truck led law enforcement officers on a high speed pursuit Saturday night and eventually eduled them by driving in a river bed north of SE 40 Road and SE 60 Ave.

According to the Barton County Sheriff’s Office, an officer attempted to stop the full-sized Chevrolet truck around 10 p.m., for running without lights in the 400 block of 11th St. in Great Bend.

The truck had a four-wheeler in its bed and continued to travel without lights at a high rate of speed before letting a female passenger off just west of Frey St. The driver then headed to U.S. 281 and turned south, still traveling without lights at it reached speeds up to 100 miles per hour.

Deputies from the BCSO pursued the truck with the assistance of the Great Bend Police Department, the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office, the Ellinwood Police Department and the Kansas Highway Patrol. During the pursuit, the driver allegedly committed five or more moving violations.

When the pursuit turned east at the Five Mile Blacktop, an Ellinwood officer got into position to deploy tire spikes. The truck driver slowed down as the vehicle turned north on SE 30 Ave., but the officers had to pull back because of the dust. When the vehicle was near the Dartmouth elevator it turned into a field and drove toward the river. Officers were able to get a license tag number but lost the driver got away.

An attempt to get an airplane out for the search was unsuccessful. The pursuit ended around 11:09 p.m., although the K-9 unit was later dispatched to SE 60 Ave. and SE 10 Road. The K-9 was also unable to find the suspect.

The BCSO is still investigating the incident.