Man leads troopers on chase while woman holds infant in backseat: THP
by: David Royer, Shay Arthur
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — State troopers say a man being pulled over for a traffic stop in Memphis led them on a high-speed pursuit, crashing into a trooper’s vehicle Friday.
Throughout the 17-minute chase, authorities say a woman was in the backseat of his car, holding her infant.
Terrance D. Cooper, 31, is charged with three counts of reckless endangerment, two counts of kidnapping, one count of assault on a law enforcement officer, evading arrest and a long list of traffic offenses.
It started when a state trooper says he saw Cooper driving a Chevy Malibu on East Raines Road while its bright lights were on.
The trooper initiated a traffic stop on the Malibu, which first pulled over on Auburn Road, but then took off at high speed. At some points in the 17-minute chase, Cooper was driving in the wrong lanes of traffic, authorities said.
When a trooper tried to box in Cooper’s Malibu, they say he swerved and hit the trooper’s vehicle, causing him to crash into a telephone pole.
Another trooper made a tactical intervention that pushed the Malibu into a tree. Cooper was apprehended.
At that point, troopers say they noticed a woman in the back seat, holding an infant. Authorities say she told them she was held against her will and had asked the driver to stop.
Cooper’s license was suspended, leading to another charge. He was also charged with the initial offense of failing to dim his bright lights.
Cooper’s record shows he was arrested in 2023 for allegedly fleeing from officers in a stolen car with drugs in the vehicle. Most of those charges were not prosecuted, but he pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine and theft of property and was sentenced to nearly a year in confinement, though all but a few days were suspended.
WREG has been following high-speed pursuits ending in crashes since the Memphis Safe Task Force started nearly a month ago.
A Memphis Safe Task Force spokesperson said task force members operate under guidelines designed to balance effective law enforcement with public safety.
His court date is scheduled for Wednesday at 9 a.m. A preliminary hearing is set for November.
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