La Vernia police arrest fugitive from Mississippi




LA VERNIA POLICE DEPARTMENT
La Vernia police found nine firearms in a pickup truck that led law-enforcement officers on a high-speed chase from La Vernia to St. Hedwig Aug. 14 before the vehicle crashed. The driver — wanted in Mississippi — allegedly stole both the firearms and the truck.

What started out as an attempt to pull over a speeding motorist in La Vernia Aug. 14 turned into a pursuit of a wanted fugitive into St. Hedwig.
According to La Vernia police Chief Bruce Ritchey, the episode began when Officer Shawn Goolsby observed a gray Ford pickup truck speeding into the city on U.S. 87.

Goolsby initiated a traffic stop of the vehicle, but instead of slowing down, the truck picked up speed and continued northward on the highway.

Wilson County Sheriff’s Office deputies joined La Vernia police in pursuing the vehicle, which raced through Adkins before wrecking on private property in St. Hedwig.

The driver, identified as Tommy Meisner, 61, of Tyler, was taken into custody and initially charged with evading arrest or detention with a vehicle. However, Ritchey said, he “was found to be one of the state of Mississippi’s most wanted fugitives.”

Meisner already was wanted in the Magnolia State on warrants charging him with residential burglaries, firearm thefts, drug offenses, and fleeing law enforcement.

A search of the pickup truck — itself reported stolen in Mississippi — allegedly turned up nine firearms, also reported stolen, and methamphetamine.

Meisner was booked into the Wilson County Jail and is charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, evading arrest or detention with a vehicle, possession of between 2 and 4 ounces of a controlled substance in Penalty Group 1, and six counts of theft of a firearm in Wilson County — in addition to the crimes he is charged with in Mississippi.

There may be more.

“Further charges are expected to be filed on state and federal levels, as we continue our investigation with the assistance of law enforcement in Mississippi,” Ritchey said.