A Starkville teenager with a criminal record is facing new charges after police say he led officers on a high-speed chase Saturday night in a stolen vehicle and tried to flee on foot by running into a Dollar General store on Stark Road.
According to Oktibbeha County Jail records, Javante Hendrix is charged with felony fleeing of law enforcement and felony grand larceny.
Oktibbeha County Sheriff’s Department Captain of Operations Brett Watson confirmed Hendrix was the driver of the stolen vehicle.
No one was injured in the chase.
Watson said bond for Hendrix will likely be set Monday.
The chase began Saturday night when deputies spotted the stolen vehicle, which did not stop when signaled by police, before the driver continued to run from deputies down Highway 12.
Watson then said the vehicle, which was occupied by two people, cut through the Kroger parking lot, before going back out to Stark Road and on to the 1300 block of the street where the Dollar General is located, next to O'Reily Auto Parts.
He confirmed the passenger in the stolen vehicle was taken into custody following the chase, but has not been charged.
Ironically, the vehicle was first reported stolen from the same Dollar General where the suspects were apprehended.
Watson said during the chase, the car had a tire blow out, which prompted the driver of the vehicle to flee into the Dollar General store, before trying to change out of their outer layer of clothes to avoid detection by law enforcement.
Hendrix is no stranger to run-ins with the law, with the teenager being arrested for multiple felonies in 2018.
In May 2018, the Starkville Daily News reported that Hendrix was arrested after stealing a shotgun from Walmart on Highway 12, then providing a false identity to police once apprehended.
Hendrix was also indicted by an Oktibbeha County grand jury last April for burglary of a business, after breaking into and stealing valuables from AAA Jewelry and Loan.
His charges on the theft of a shotgun and false identity were expected to go before a grand jury during the current circuit court term, according to past court filings, but no indictments have been filed at this time as it relates to the May 2018 arrest.