Corbin officer injured in wild chase

A Salyersville man is in custody following a wild, high-speed chase that started in south Corbin and ended near Laurel Lake and resulted in the injury of one local police officer, and damage to two police vehicles.
Kentucky State Police negotiators convinced 45-year-old Douglas Shepherd, of Salyersville, to end a standoff in a creek bed near a U.S. Army Corps. of Engineers power plant close to the Laurel River Lake Spillway. Shepherd bailed out the passenger side window of the 2001 Pontiac Grand Am he was driving after police blew out its tires with spiked strips laid across the roadway. He was armed with a handgun and allegedly threatened suicide before he surrendered.
“He said something about his kids,” said Corbin Police Officer Steven Douglas, who is investigating the case. “We pursued him down to the creek bank and he had the gun to his head the entire time until he surrendered.”
The chase started with a simple traffic stop at the Convenient Food Mart on Cumberland Falls Hwy., at about noon yesterday and ended about 1:36 p.m. Corbin Police Officer Bill Rose said he noticed the vehicle Shepherd was driving had an outdated license plate attached to it.
“I checked it out and it came back to a completely different car,” he said. “I thought, I want to talk to this rascal.”
Shepherd pulled into Convenient to get gas. Rose said he was checking the car’s Vehicle Identification Number through the city’s dispatch center when Shepherd bolted.
“He was kind of half in the car and half out. He said he was getting his insurance card and registration receipt,” Rose said. “Right after I ran the VIN and found out it was stolen, he took off. He jumped in that car and was gone before I could bat an eye.”
With Rose close behind, Shepherd sped toward downtown Corbin on 18th Street, and then doubled back down 17th Street when he noticed traffic was too heavy. Other officers joined the dangerous, lightning-fast pursuit down Cumberland Falls Hwy.
Rose lost sight of Shepherd on Bee Creek Road when he lost control of his car and wrecked just past the Grove Marina turnoff. The officer was transported to Baptist Regional Medical Center to be treated for arm, shoulder and slight head injuries. He was released Tuesday afternoon and Douglas said the injuries don’t appear to be serious.
Shepherd rammed a police cruiser driven by Corbin Officer Chad Gregory during the pursuit, and actually escaped detection for a short time before being spotted again near Laurel Lake by a U.S. Forest Service officer.
Authorities say the car he was driving was reported stolen from a flea market in Hazard Sept. 10. The keys were in it at the time it was taken. Shepherd told police before the pursuit began that the car belonged to his brother.
Douglas said the RG Arms .38 Special Shepherd held to his head during the standoff hasn’t been reported stolen, along with other firearms found in the vehicle, but a more in-depth investigation is continuing.
“A lot of people don’t know what the serial number is on their guns, so they may be stolen but just not reported yet,” Douglas said. “There were three really nice guns in the car and I don’t know why he would end up with them if they weren’t stolen.”
In addition to being suspected of stealing the vehicle, Douglas said there is an active warrant on Shepherd for a “forced entry” burglary in Pikeville.
In the wake of the chase, police charged Shepherd with being a fugitive from justice, improper registration plates, no license, reckless driving, fleeing or evading police, two counts of first degree wanton endangerment on a police officer, receiving stolen property over $300 (auto), and criminal mischief. He was lodged in the Whitley County Jail.