Child found in backseat of car after police chase ends with I-10 crash near LaPlace

DISCLAIMER: All persons are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

LAPLACE, La. (WGNO)— A Killona man has been arrested after detectives say he led deputies on a high-speed chase with a young child in the backseat. The St. John the Baptist Sheriff’s Office says 24-year-old Davon Tyrell Dallon was taken into custody and faces charges that include aggravated flight from an officer and cruelty to a juvenile.

The SJSO reports that it all started around 4:30 p.m. Monday when deputies learned of a fugitive out of Jefferson Parish driving in the area west of LaPlace near the intersection of Louisana 3188 and U.S. 61. When they tried to make a traffic stop, deputies say the driver, revealed to be Dallon, refused to stop and headed north on LA 3188.

According to detectives, the pursuit meandered through multiple streets in the Belle Terre subdivision. When deputies tried to deploy spike strips, Dallon continued to head north towards I-10, striking two officers inside their patrol units in the process.

The car chase ended when Dallon entered I-10 and lost control of the vehicle near mile marker 203.9, crashing into another vehicle and then a concrete guardrail. However, SJSO says the pursuit continued as the suspect jumped out of the car and into the marsh below. After a search and rescue team was dispatched, Dallon was taken into custody.

When deputies searched Dallon’s vehicle, they found a 4-year-old boy laying on the back floorboard. The relationship between the suspect and the child was unclear, however, detectives say the boy was unharmed in the crash.

Five people were taken to the hospital following the pursuit: the two officers and three people who were involved in the I-10 crash. All five were treated and released.

Dallon was booked into the St. John Parish Correction Center on following charges: