Welfare check turns into police pursuit in Longview Thursday

LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) - Longview police officers responding to a call for a welfare check turned into a pursuit on Thursday morning.

According to police, at around 6:10 a.m. officers went to the 800 block of HG Mosley Pkwy to check on the driver of a vehicle who appeared to be unconscious sitting at a traffic light. The officers found the vehicle, a blue Chevrolet Impala, which they say had been sitting at the light for several minutes. The officers say the driver awoke and drove away, damaging two police vehicles as well as his own vehicle. He led the officers on a short pursuit, they reported.

The suspect, 37-year-old Kelvin Earl Smith Jr. was arrested and booked into the Gregg County Jail. He was charged with evading arrest in a vehicle, two counts of possession of a controlled substance, possession of marijuana, possession of dangerous drugs, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Police say no one was injured during the incident.

If you witnessed this crash, please contact the Longview Police Department’s Traffic Division at (903) 237-1188.