OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. — A man was charged after police say he set his girlfriend on fire before kidnapping a child and leading police on a chase from Memphis into the Mississippi city of Olive Branch Tuesday morning.
Jeremy Kent Manning, 42, of Olive Branch, was charged with attempted murder, two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, kidnapping, child endangerment and arson with a total bond set at $1.3 million, Olive Branch Police said. His court date will be set pending charges by the Memphis Police Department and extradition.
The woman has been transferred to the Regional One Burn Center and is in critical condition for serious burns.
According to Olive Branch Police Chief Don Gammage, doctors at Olive Branch Methodist Hospital called authorities after a woman was brought in with severe burns to her body around 3 a.m. Tuesday. She had reportedly been doused with gasoline and set on fire on Tacoma Place.
The suspect fled the scene with a three-year-old family member who had been kidnapped.
That same individual then pulled up next to an officer at Winchester and Riverdale and told him he needed a cellphone. He warned that if he didn’t get it he would kill the child he had in the car with him.
Police tried to perform a traffic stop at that time and that’s when the suspect took off, leading police all the way back to Olive Branch and Tacoma Place.
Officers said at one point the suspect was able to get behind one officer and rammed his car. The impact sent the officer’s cruiser into the back of another.
Still the suspect wouldn’t get out of his car. Officers were forced to break the back window to get him out. He struggled with a police officer before being taken into custody.
Two officers were transported to the hospital following the incident. Police said their injuries were not life threatening.
The suspect also sustained injuries from the crash. Police said he was taken to the hospital and undergoing surgery.
As for the child, police said the suspect kicked her out of the car prior to the crash. The child was not injured and has since been reunited with her mother,
