The Ellingwood Police Department reported that around 9:46 p.m. Tuesday evening, officers were called to the area of Northeast 10 Road and Northeast 120 Ave near Ellinwood.
When they arrived on scene, they found an abandoned vehicle in the roadway. It was located and impounded by deputies.
Shortly after, calls came in saying someone was driving a combine just East of Ellinwood in a reckless manner.
The combine was reported weaving from ditch to ditch on U.S. 56 highway. It struck a guy wire and caused damage to power poles near the intersection of Southeast 10 Road and U.S. 56 Highway.
It then continued West and entered the city of Ellinwood around 10:47 p.m. The driver drove through a residential neighborhood, striking several power poles and a 2005 Chevrolet pickup truck parked on the road.The pickup truck sustained extensive damage and the 8-row combine header was torn from the combine.
An Ellinwood police officer attempted to contact the driver around 10:52 p.m. While doing so, the driver put the machine in reverse and rammed the Ellinwood police car. The combine driver fled the scene and a chase ensued. The combine then proceeded down several more side streets and drove South out of town on the county blacktop.
The combine was all over the road, traveling with no lights. A sheriff’s deputy was able to get in front of the suspect and set a roadblock just South of the Arkansas River bridge. The suspect rammed the deputy’s patrol car, dragging it a considerable distance, causing extensive damage and disabling the unit.
The deputy and Ellinwood officer fired approximately 18 rounds at the combine in an effort to disable it. The driver was taken from the implement and arrested. The driver was identified as Kenneth M. Lamb Jr., 37 of Ellinwood. The combine was stolen near the area where Lamb’s vehicle was found abandoned in the roadway.
Lamb was arrested and booked for aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, felony theft, felony criminal damage to property, and reckless driving.
The case is still under investigation.
