From Staff Reports/MS
The Picayune Item
PICAYUNE —
A Picayune man fled from St. Tammany Parish, La., law enforcement officers Tuesday afternoon after he was suspected of asking random people to purchase pseudoephedrine medication for him.
According to a press release from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Department, at about 2 p.m. Tuesday narcotics detectives saw the suspect approaching random patrons of the Walgreens store located at the intersection of Military Road and East Gause Boulevard.
The suspect, later identified as 31-year-old Steven Scott Kennedy, was suspected of asking random individuals to purchase cold medication containing pseudoephedrine for him. The release states Louisiana has a two pack per month limit on the purchase of such medication due to its common use as an ingredient in the production of methamphetamine. Purchase of that kind of medication in Mississippi requires a prescription.
Detectives later observed Kennedy pull across the street from the pharmacy into a nearby gas station. Then detectives walked up to the suspect’s car and identified themselves as law enforcement officers, the release states. Kennedy was asked to get out of the vehicle, but instead he put his vehicle in reverse and fled down Military Road before turning onto Interstate 59, according to the release. The release states the pursuit lasted about 15 minutes as Kennedy fled north on I-59 into Pearl River County, all the while throwing pseudoephedrine from the vehicle that was later recovered by deputies.
St. Tammany Parish Sheriff’s Department personnel informed law enforcement agencies in Pearl River County of the pursuit, including the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department, Picayune Police Department and Mississippi Highway Patrol, all three of which prepared for Kennedy to approach, the release states.
The pursuit crossed the Louisiana-Mississippi state line before Kennedy attempted to leave the interstate at the Nicholson exit, only to find Mississippi law enforcement agencies waiting for him, the release states. When Kennedy attempted to evade the waiting law enforcement officers he lost control of the vehicle and wrecked his vehicle in a ditch at the north bound on-ramp of I-59.
Kennedy was charged with resisting an officer, aggravated flight from an officer and creation or operation of a clandestine laboratory for the unlawful manufacture of a controlled dangerous substance, the release states
Police Department records show Kennedy’s last known address was 1119 South Beech St., Picayune.
