By Billy Davis

Two Panola sheriff’s deputies and a Sardis police officer fought and subdued a man who led them on a high-speed chase, in a stolen police car, Sunday morning.  

Authorities say they wrestled Kendrick Norwood to the ground, tasered him twice, then finally subdued him after he was hit with pepper spray.

Panola deputies Lt. Billy Lambert and Chuck Tucker were involved in the automobile chase and fight with Norwood, said Sheriff Otis Griffin.

Sardis Police patrolman Ryan Wilson was the only officer involved, said Police Chief Marcel Jojola.

Before his arrest Sunday, Norwood, 21, was wanted by authorities in Illinois and Iowa for a failure to appear in court to answer weapon possession charges.

Griffin said Lambert spotted a red Chevy Silverado truck involved in an alleged drug deal about 1 a.m., in the Green Hill area of Sardis. Lambert lost the automobile but recorded its tag number and description, then radioed the information to other law enforcement.

Wilson, on patrol in Sardis, spotted the truck at about 5 a.m. and initiated a traffic stop at Kangaroo Express on East Lee Street, according to his police report.

Wilson’s report states that a female identified as Zelthia Roseborough, 27, of Batesville, was driving the truck.

Norwood, the passenger, was being handcuffed at the scene when he ran from the two deputies and Wilson.

Sardis police were advised at 5:46 a.m. that Norwood was at the Super 8 Motel attempting to rent a room.

Wilson met Norwood in the lobby, the two moved to a nearby room, “and an altercation ensued,” the officer wrote in his report.

“He cold-cocked Officer Wilson,” Chief Jojola explained. “That’s how he got the car.”

Outside the hotel, Norwood jumped behind the wheel of a 2010 Dodge Charger, Wilson’s cruiser. The suspect attempted to knock down a fence to get to the interstate, blowing out the Charger’s right front tire. He then knocked down a brick column outside the hotel as he fled the parking lot.  

According to Griffin, Norwood drove north on Interstate 55, then changed to the southbound lane when he realized law enforcement was pursing him.

“He didn’t get back in the north bound lane until he got to the Como exit,” the sheriff said.

At the Como exit, Norwood led deputies east on Highway 310. He crashed the police cruiser at 310 and Liberty Hill Road, where he fought officers until he was arrested.

Wilson’s police report states that a second police officer found an alleged “dime bag” of marijuana near the traffic stop at Kangaroo Express.

Wilson had seen Norwood throw it during the foot pursuit behind the convenience store.

“He was high,” Griffin said of Norwood. He tested positive for marijuana, cocaine and alcohol, according to the sheriff.