The driver who fled a roadblock this week before crashing on U.S. 98, killing two passengers, was charged Friday afternoon.
Marion County Chief Deputy Jamie Singley confirmed that Kevin M. Allen, 40, of Columbia was arrested around 2 p.m. Friday and charged with two counts of manslaughter (culpable negligence), one count of fleeing a law enforcement official in a motor vehicle causing injury and one count of aggravated assault on a police officer.
Allen was booked into the Marion County Regional Correctional Facility and is currently awaiting bond to be set.
“He was released from the hospital earlier today and later arrested,” Singley said. “We had been looking at the charges since the night of the accident. It continues to be under investigation.”
Manslaughter carries a penalty of between 1 year and 20 years in prison
Allen had fled Columbia police on U.S. 98 at high speeds Tuesday night. According to the Highway Patrol, Allen crashed after bumping a sheriff’s deputy who had attempted to pass him, causing them both to wreck. His 2013 Chevrlet flew off the road into a dense thicket near C&S Road between Foxworth and Kokomo. Passengers Damian Swarptue, 26, of Hattiesburg and Lacurtis Floyd, 22, of McComb both died in the accident.
The deputy, whose name has not been released, was treated and released with injuries.
