GREENSBURG — A man wanted in connection to a woman’s death in Anderson County was killed in a crash during a police pursuit Saturday night near Greensburg.
Jerry Wayne Thompson, age 55, of Tidewater, Ore., was pronounced dead at a hospital in Kiowa County after the vehicle he was driving fled from a trooper with the Kansas Highway Patrol and crashed.
Thompson was being sought in connection to a homicide investigation in Kincaid. The Anderson County Sheriff’s Department said Sheila Kendall, age 36, originally of Georgia, was found dead Thursday during a welfare check at a residence in the 300 block of First Street in Kincaid, according to a press release from the sheriff’s department. Thompson owned the property.
An arrest warrant was issued for Thompson on on Friday.
At about 9:03 p.m. Saturday, the Kansas Highway Patrol located a stolen 2009 Ford Focus traveling east on U.S. 54 in Kiowa County.
The driver, Thompson, pulled to the shoulder of the highway about 5 miles west of Greensburg and stopped the car, according to WIBW News in Topeka.
After the trooper spoke to Thompson, he fled from the scene and the pursuit began.
The Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office deployed stop sticks west of Greensburg. The Ford left the roadway and entered a ditch, where it struck a field entrance, went airborne and rolled over at 9:09 p.m., the news station reported. Thompson was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead.
The patrol said a loaded gun was recovered from the crash scene.
Both the crash and Kendall’s death remain under investigation.
Anderson County sheriff’s officials credited the Anderson County Sheriff’s Office; Coffey County Sheriff’s office; the Garnett Police Department; the Kansas Highway Patrol; the Oregon State Patrol; and the Kiowa County Sheriff’s Office for their support in the investigation.
