Corbin police use pepper spray, tazer to end chase

A Corbin man is facing nine different criminal charges after leading police on a chase Friday that ended when authorities surrounded and entered a home he ran into.
Michael Ray Eaton, 30, sped away when Corbin Police Officer Glenn Taylor, Jr. tried to conduct a traffic stop on the 1994 Dodge Intrepid he was driving. Police say Eaton’s wife called the city’s dispatch center to report her husband was driving under the influence of drugs.
“When I got out of the car, he took off,” Taylor said. The attempted stop occurred on Master Street. “I guess he thought he could get away from me.”
The short chase ended when Eaton lost control of his car and slammed into a wooden fence, then forced his way into a home at the corner of Standard Ave. and Barbourville St. owned by Joe Westbrook. Taylor said he crashed his specially equipped K-9 cruiser into a concrete post. It suffered minor damage.
Police quickly surrounded the home and attempted to gain entry.
“I heard a skid and a crash,” said Sarah Simpson, who lives in the area. “I ran down the road and saw police pull in and yell at him to come out of the house. They surrounded the house and gave him until the count of 10 to come out.”
Taylor said officer David Maiden found Eaton hiding behind a dryer and used pepper spray on him. After a short scuffle, Maiden used a non-lethal tazer to render Eaton harmless.
Taylor said Eaton admitted to taking xanax pills that were prescribed to him before driving.
“He apologized to me and everything after it was over,” Taylor said.
Eaton was charged with DUI, two counts of fleeing and evading police, driving on a DUI suspended license, criminal trespassing, two counts of criminal mischief, resisting arrest, driving with no insurance and disregarding a stop sign.