ELKMONT — A 43-year-old man who drove his Suzuki motorcycle fast enough for the sheriff to refer to it as a “crotch rocket” has been arrested after passing the sheriff illegally and then speeding away.

Sheriff Mike Blakely said the incident occurred as he was driving his personal and unmarked pickup truck Wednesday afternoon along Fort Hampton Road toward the Owens community.

“This dude on a Suzuki motorcycle passed me in a curve with a double-yellow line,” Blakely said.

Although the driver, Kelvin Cornelius Pride of Athens, may have been unaware at the time it was Limestone County’s sheriff he’d just passed illegally, he should have gotten a clue when the Blakely turned on the blue lights he keeps in his truck.

Instead of pulling over, the sheriff said Pride accelerated and then ran a stop sign in an effort to elude capture.

“He was driving well over 100 mph,” Blakely said. 

Pride turned onto Alabama 99 and outpaced the sheriff, but Lt. Jay Stinnett picked up Pride’s trail at Easter Ferry Road and chased Pride along Salem-Minor Hill Road and almost to Pulaski, the sheriff said.

“He turned onto a dead end and Jay got him,” Blakely said. “It’s a wonder he didn’t hurt somebody or himself. He just passed me like I was sitting still, on the wrong side of the road in a curve.”

Because of the threat Pride’s run posed to the safety of others, Blakely was heard on the police scanner telling Stinnett to charge him “with everything you can think of.”

Pride was charged with reckless driving, speeding, improper lane use, running a stop sign, driving on wrong side of road, driving with a switched tag, attempting to elude, reckless endangerment and possession of prohibited liquor.

He was released from Limestone County Jail on bond Thursday afternoon.