Police: Drunk Man Evades Arrest, Rams Police Car in Longview

LONGVIEW — A Dallas man is being held in the Gregg County Jail on bonds totaling $41,000 after police say he evaded arrest and rammed his car into a police car — all while allegedly drunk. According to KETK and the Longview News-Journal, police say Bennie Joe Baker Jr., 32, appeared passed out in the driver’s seat of a car parked in the 200 block of West Sycamore Lane, near the Pine Tree Road intersection. A Longview police officer came across the car while responding to a call about a suspicious vehicle, according to police reports. The officer wrote in his report that Baker appeared to be intoxicated and drove away when the officer told him to turn off the ignition.

During the course of the chase, Baker attempted to ram the officer’s vehicle several times and eventually struck the officer’s patrol car with the officer inside, according to the police report. Baker also allegedly refused to take a blood test. Police say that led the officer to file a search warrant in order to get a sample. Baker is being held on charges of driving while intoxicated, evading arrest/detention with a vehicle, and aggravated assault on a public servant, online jail records show.