Pearl mayor chases, catches 'purple underwear' suspect

A fleeing suspect was startled Friday to find that the man who finally caught him at the end of a foot chase with police was none other than Pearl's mayor.

Pearl Police Department officer Jeremy Haywood said he and another officer were in a local bank after they got a call about a possible credit card fraud suspect. When the suspect, Jermaine Marshall of Chicago, saw the bank manager point him out, he took off running.

Haywood said he and the other officer took off in pursuit of the suspect, who headed toward the area of Old Brandon Road and Bierdeman Road. The other officer was injured in the chase, and as the suspect turned south toward Old Brandon and crossed the road, Haywood said, he saw Police Chief Tim Sarrett and Mayor Brad Rogers getting out of a truck and joining the foot chase.

It's not uncommon for Rogers and Sarrett to go to lunch together, and they happened to be in Sarrett's truck when the chaos erupted.

"When I took off running, he took off running," Sarrett said of the mayor.

Rogers said they had been listening to the radio and overheard an officer calling for backup in a foot pursuit because he'd been injured. He described the suspect as having on "pants to his knees and purple underwear." They said the suspect had doubled back and was headed toward the Police Department.

"So, as we were coming down the road, we saw him cross the road, and we both said, 'There he is!' at the same time," Rogers said.

"The next thing I know, the mayor and the police chief are running next to me," Haywood said.

Marshall slowed down at one point and turned around as if he were going to give himself up, Haywood said, but then continued on and went over an 8-foot privacy fence.

Rogers, who trains for various fitness competitions including the yearly national police competition Lawfit, went over the fence behind him. Sarrett and Haywood went through a gate.

In spite of being unarmed, Rogers yelled at the suspect to get on the ground, and he complied without too much fuss, the mayor said. Sarrett and Haywood showed up seconds later and were able to make the arrest.

"We were in the right place at the right time," Rogers said.

Haywood, who is still in his 20s, said he was a little tired from having already been on the foot chase, but that he was pretty surprised to see how spry Rogers is.

Marshall, who officials say has a lengthy history, was booked and charged with credit card fraud, identity theft, and failure to obey a police officer.

Contact Therese Apel  at 601-961-7236 or tapel@gannett.com . Follow her on Facebook  and Twitter .