South Dakota Highway Patrol is investigating the crash that resulted in two Charles Mix County deputies being injured last week.
According to the Wagner Police Department, Charles Mix County Deputy Tim Simmermon and Deputy Neal Moad were injured after crashing their vehicles in a pursuit around 9:30 p.m. Friday.
Trooper Grant Lubbers said late Sunday that the suspect's vehicle and two deputies' vehicles crashed after failing to negotiate a curve near the intersection of 288th street and 376th Avenue, about 2 miles south and 1.5 miles east of Geddes.
He said none of the vehicles hit each other in the crash, but all three went into a ditch, proceeding into a pasture.
The suspect fled the scene and was not located, Lubbers said. When asked if the suspect had been found as of Sunday night, he declined to comment, saying the incident is under investigation.
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Lubbers said the Highway Patrol is investigating the crash, not the pursuit.
Other responding agencies to the crash scene were the Charles Mix County Sheriff's Office, Platte Police Department, Wagner Police Department and Lake Andes Ambulance.
On Saturday, police said Simmermon was released from the hospital with minor injuries, but Moad was airlifted to Sioux Falls with a fractured back, broken finger and wrist.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with our brothers from the Charles Mix County Sheriff's Office," the department said in a Facebook post.
According to a post on the Charles Mix County Sheriff's Office Facebook page on Sunday, Moad said he is unable to lift his legs under his own power. He said the L4 vertebrae in his back is "exploded," according to his doctors, and he could undergo surgery today.
No other information is immediately available.
Tony Mangan, public information officer with the Department of Public Safety, said the Highway Patrol is investigating the crash and all requests for information must be answered by the Charles Mix County state's attorney's office. The Charles Mix County Sheriff's office has refused to answer repeated requests for comment.
