Detectives with the Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department were taken on a chase through the Hillsdale area after the driver failed to stop at a stop sign.

The chase occurred after narcotics detectives conducting a routine patrol on Dec. 20, in the north part of Pearl River County noticed a pickup truck run a stop sign on the off ramp of Interstate 59 at the Hillsdale Road exit.

During the attempt to conduct the stop, the detectives identified the driver as, 55-year-old Phillip York of 249 Lavelle Odom Rd., Poplarville. When the detectives turned on the vehicle’s blue lights and siren to conduct the stop, York sped away down Lavelle Odom Road, leading the detectives on a chase that went through the Hillsdale community, Sheriff David Allison said.

The driver then headed back to Interstate 59 where detectives noticed several items being thrown from the vehicle while traveling down the interstate. York finally pulled the vehicle over at the 27 mile marker, the south Poplarville exit, where some patrol units from the Sheriff’s Department and Poplarville Police Department were waiting.

York and his passenger, 38-year-old Tommy Curtis High of 957 West North St., Poplarville surrendered and the items thrown from the vehicle were recovered by investigators with the Criminal Investigation Division. Those items were later determined to be a green leafy substance suspected to be marijuana along with digital scales and a firearm, Allison said. 

York was arrested for possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute while High was arrested for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, Allison said.

Allison said he would like to thank the officers of the  Poplarville Police Department for their assistance in this case.