Driver Goes the Wrong Way on I-55 Before Arkansas Troopers Bring the Pursuit to an End

The Arkansas trooper is not chasing a vehicle when the encounter begins.

He is approaching one.

At approximately 9:30 on a Friday morning in Blytheville, Arkansas State Police have stopped a black 2024 Mazda CX-5 at a truck stop on South Division Street.

The setting could hardly look more routine.

Traffic moves nearby. Trucks sit around the commercial area. Interstate 55 is only moments away.

Then the driver makes a decision that completely changes the situation.

As the trooper approaches, the Mazda suddenly takes off.

The driver, later identified by Arkansas State Police as 28-year-old Calvin Hathaway of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, does not simply accelerate down a city street.

He heads toward Interstate 55.

And soon he is traveling in a direction no driver should ever be traveling.

Hathaway enters I-55 northbound while using the southbound lanes.

Cars and trucks are now coming directly toward him.

The trooper follows.

What began as a roadside encounter has become a pursuit where every additional second creates another opportunity for a catastrophic head-on collision.

According to Arkansas State Police, Hathaway repeatedly moves away from the shoulder and into active lanes against oncoming traffic while traveling at high speed.

He shows no indication that he intends to stop.

Eventually, the trooper makes the decision that will end the vehicle portion of the chase.

He closes the gap.

The patrol car makes contact.

A Tactical Vehicle Intervention, Arkansas State Police's terminology for a PIT-style maneuver, sends the Mazda off the roadway.

But Hathaway still isn't finished.

He gets out and runs.

The vehicle pursuit is over.

The manhunt has just begun.

A Routine Stop Suddenly Falls Apart

The incident occurred on September 6, 2024, in Blytheville, a northeastern Arkansas city close to the Missouri state line.

According to information released by Arkansas State Police several days later, troopers stopped the Mazda at a truck stop on South Division Street at approximately 9:30 a.m.

The footage supplied for this article shows the familiar environment surrounding the I-55 corridor.

Wide roads.

Commercial businesses.

Interstate ramps.

Semi-trucks.

Ordinary daytime traffic.

Nothing initially suggests that one of the more dangerous forms of police pursuit is about to unfold.

But Hathaway does not remain at the stop.

ASP says he flees as the trooper approaches.

That instantly forces police to transition from a stationary encounter to a moving one.

The question is no longer simply why the Mazda was stopped.

Now police have to determine how to stop it.

The Mazda Heads Toward Interstate 55

For someone attempting to escape police, an interstate may appear attractive.

There is room.

There are long stretches of road.

Speeds are already higher than on city streets.

But Hathaway's route introduces an entirely different level of danger.

He does not simply merge onto the interstate and accelerate in the normal direction.

According to ASP, he travels the wrong way on I-55, heading north in lanes intended for southbound traffic.

That single decision transforms the pursuit.

A conventional highway pursuit primarily places vehicles traveling in the same direction at risk.

A wrong-way pursuit creates closing speeds.

Imagine one vehicle traveling 80 mph toward another vehicle traveling 70 mph.

From the perspective of the two vehicles, the distance between them can disappear at approximately 150 mph.

Drivers approaching normally may have only seconds to understand what they are seeing.

A black SUV appears ahead.

It is facing them.

Police lights are behind it.

There is little time to react.

The Shoulder Doesn't Remain His Escape Route

One possibility for a wrong-way driver is to remain on the shoulder, reducing the immediate risk of a head-on collision.

But Arkansas State Police said Hathaway repeatedly left the shoulder and entered the active traffic lanes.

That is one of the most significant details in the official account.

It means the danger was not theoretical.

The Mazda was entering space occupied by vehicles traveling legally in the opposite direction.

ASP described Hathaway as driving at high speed with no regard for the safety of other motorists and showing no indication that he intended to stop.

For the pursuing trooper, that creates a difficult calculation.

Continuing the pursuit carries risk.

Allowing the Mazda to continue traveling against traffic also carries enormous risk.

The longer the situation continues, the greater the chance that an unsuspecting driver becomes involved.

Every Oncoming Vehicle Becomes Part of the Emergency

The most frightening person in a wrong-way pursuit may not be the fleeing driver or even the trooper.

It may be someone who has absolutely no idea a pursuit is happening.

A motorist can be driving home, heading to work or transporting a family along the interstate.

Then a vehicle suddenly appears in the same lane traveling directly toward them.

There may be no safe escape route.

A guardrail can prevent movement in one direction.

Another vehicle can occupy the neighboring lane.

A semi-truck requires far more distance to stop than a passenger car.

That is why wrong-way interstate pursuits create such urgency.

The danger is moving toward people who have no connection to the original police encounter.

They did not choose to participate.

They may not even see the police lights until the fleeing vehicle is already dangerously close.

The Trooper Has to Get Close Enough to Intervene

Stopping a fleeing vehicle through physical intervention requires the police car to approach it.

That sounds obvious.

In practice, it is one of the most dangerous parts of the pursuit.

The trooper cannot perform a Tactical Vehicle Intervention from hundreds of feet away.

He has to close the distance.

That means entering the same chaotic environment created by the fleeing driver.

The trooper must watch Hathaway.

He must watch oncoming traffic.

He must judge speed.

He must identify a moment where intervention is preferable to allowing the wrong-way driving to continue.

The dashcam records this from a perspective that can make the distances look deceptively manageable.

But at highway speed, the scene changes every second.

Arkansas State Police Makes the Decision to End It

Eventually, the risk of allowing the Mazda to continue outweighs the risk of physically intervening.

The trooper moves into position.

Arkansas State Police reports that a Tactical Vehicle Intervention, or TVI, was performed.

The maneuver causes Hathaway's Mazda to leave the roadway.

That is the decisive moment of the vehicle pursuit.

The SUV can no longer continue traveling against traffic.

For the motorists approaching in the southbound lanes, the immediate threat is finally being removed.

But for police, the incident is not over.

Hathaway leaves the vehicle.

Then he runs.

From Highway Pursuit to Foot Search

This creates a strange transition.

Seconds earlier, the primary concern was a multi-thousand-pound vehicle moving the wrong way on an interstate.

Now the vehicle is stationary.

The danger has become much more localized.

Police need to catch one person on foot.

According to ASP, Hathaway manages to run approximately one mile before officers apprehend him.

Running a mile after a high-speed pursuit may seem like a significant escape attempt.

But the tactical situation has fundamentally changed.

A vehicle can rapidly create distance.

A person on foot cannot.

Police can establish a perimeter.

Additional units can respond.

Officers can communicate the suspect's direction of travel.

The longer Hathaway remains on foot, the more difficult it becomes to maintain the advantage he initially gained by leaving the Mazda.

Eventually, officers catch him.

The chase is finally over.

Then Troopers Search the Mazda

Once Hathaway is in custody, investigators return their attention to the vehicle.

This is where the story gains another layer.

According to Arkansas State Police, a search of the Mazda revealed two backpacks.

Inside, troopers reported finding 77 MDMA pills, commonly referred to as Ecstasy, along with illegal marijuana.

They also discovered what initially could easily be mistaken for a handgun.

ASP identified it as a BB gun resembling a Glock 19 pistol.

That distinction is important.

It was not reported as an actual Glock 19.

It was a BB gun designed or configured to resemble one.

For an officer encountering such an object under stressful conditions, however, visual appearance can still matter enormously.

Police frequently have only moments to decide whether an object appears to be a firearm.

Fortunately, the official account does not describe Hathaway displaying the BB gun at officers during this pursuit.

Police Discover Another Problem in Wisconsin

The investigation also revealed that Hathaway had unresolved legal issues outside Arkansas.

ASP reported that he was on probation in Wisconsin.

Authorities also discovered an active warrant from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections.

That information provides additional context after the fact.

It does not by itself tell us what Hathaway was thinking when the trooper approached the Mazda.

Only Hathaway could definitively explain that.

But it establishes that the Arkansas encounter was not his only active legal problem.

The man who had just run approximately a mile after a wrong-way interstate pursuit was also wanted by authorities in his home state.

Why Wrong-Way Pursuits Are Different

Most pursuit footage follows an intuitive pattern.

Police car behind.

Suspect vehicle ahead.

Both traveling in the same direction.

Even at extreme speed, the viewer understands the flow.

This pursuit destroys that normal structure.

The Mazda is moving north through southbound lanes.

That means the road ahead is constantly producing new hazards.

Every curve can reveal another vehicle.

Every hill can hide traffic until the last moment.

Every large truck reduces visibility.

And because the suspect is traveling the wrong way, ordinary motorists are not looking behind them for danger.

They are looking forward.

Unfortunately, forward is exactly where the Mazda is coming from.

Why a TVI Can Become the Lesser Risk

Physical intervention in a pursuit is never risk-free.

Intentionally causing another vehicle to lose directional control can result in a crash.

But police pursuit decisions are often comparisons between risks rather than choices between danger and no danger.

In this case, the alternative was allowing the Mazda to continue traveling against interstate traffic.

Arkansas State Police specifically said Hathaway repeatedly entered active lanes against oncoming traffic at high speeds and showed no sign of stopping.

Under those conditions, waiting also has consequences.

Another mile means more vehicles encountered.

Another minute means more opportunities for a head-on collision.

The TVI ends that moving threat.

The Mazda leaves the road.

The driver survives the intervention and is able to flee on foot.

Most importantly, the wrong-way vehicle is no longer moving through interstate traffic.

A Two-Minute Video Represents a Much Larger Police Response

The supplied footage is only about two and a half minutes long.

That does not mean the entire incident lasted two and a half minutes.

Dashcam clips often focus on the most dramatic portion of an encounter.

Here, the video emphasizes the pursuit and intervention.

But the complete police response includes much more.

There is the initial stop.

The flight.

The pursuit.

The wrong-way interstate driving.

The TVI.

The foot chase.

The apprehension approximately a mile away.

The search of the Mazda.

The discovery of the suspected drugs.

The identification of the BB gun.

The warrant check.

And eventually the booking and charging process.

A short dashcam clip therefore captures only the center of a much longer chain of events.

The Contraband Changes How the Beginning Looks

At the beginning of the pursuit, viewers do not necessarily know what is inside the Mazda.

The trooper sees a driver fleeing.

Only later does the search reveal what ASP says was being transported.

That creates an interesting narrative reversal.

Initially, the central question is:

Why is this driver willing to create such extreme danger rather than stop?

After the arrest, investigators discover suspected MDMA, marijuana, the realistic-looking BB gun and the Wisconsin warrant.

Those discoveries provide context.

But responsible reporting requires an important distinction.

Finding those items afterward does not allow us to state with certainty that any one of them was the specific reason Hathaway fled.

We can describe what police found.

We can describe his warrant and probation status.

We should not pretend we can read his mind.

The Wrong-Way Driving Remains the Most Serious Visual Element

Even after learning what troopers reportedly recovered, the most alarming part of the footage remains the highway behavior itself.

Drugs can be seized.

A warrant can be served.

A suspect can be arrested.

A head-on interstate collision cannot be undone.

That is why the pursuit carries so much tension despite being relatively short.

The potential consequences are visible every time another vehicle appears ahead.

One small mistake could involve someone completely innocent.

And unlike the fleeing driver, those motorists have not had time to prepare.

Blytheville's Location Makes I-55 Especially Important

Blytheville sits near Arkansas' northeastern corner, with Interstate 55 serving as one of the major north-south transportation corridors through the region.

The highway carries local motorists alongside significant commercial truck traffic.

That makes wrong-way driving particularly dangerous.

Large trucks cannot maneuver like passenger vehicles.

Their stopping distances are longer.

Their size can limit the escape options of vehicles around them.

The environment visible in the video reinforces this.

Truck stops and commercial traffic are part of the landscape.

This is not an empty rural road where police can simply wait for the fleeing driver to run out of pavement.

The Arrest Ends One Chase and Starts Another Process

Once Hathaway is captured, the urgency disappears.

There are no more oncoming vehicles to avoid.

No more lane changes.

No more attempts to calculate where to perform a TVI.

The process becomes methodical.

Secure the suspect.

Search the vehicle according to the circumstances of the investigation.

Document what is recovered.

Confirm identity.

Check warrants.

Determine charges.

Arkansas State Police later included the Blytheville pursuit in a September 10 release highlighting several recent enforcement actions involving drugs and fugitives.

That release provides the clearest official summary of what happened after the dashcam stopped recording the dramatic portion.

The Video Was Later Released by Arkansas State Police

The footage itself was subsequently published by Arkansas State Police under the title “I-55 Blytheville Pursuit - September 6, 2024.”

The official video was posted on September 18, 2024.

That direct source is important because pursuit footage is frequently reposted, shortened or edited by third-party channels.

In this case, the original ASP upload allows the video to be tied directly to the date and agency involved.

A Driver Can Escape a Traffic Stop Without Escaping the Consequences

Hathaway succeeds at one thing.

He gets away from the initial stop.

For a short time.

But every decision afterward makes his situation more serious.

He flees the trooper.

He enters an interstate in the wrong direction.

He drives against oncoming traffic.

He continues despite police pursuing him.

The Mazda is eventually forced from the roadway.

Then he runs.

Even that only delays the arrest.

Approximately a mile later, officers catch him.

Police then search the vehicle and report finding the suspected drugs and realistic-looking BB gun.

His identity check reveals the Wisconsin probation status and active Department of Corrections warrant.

The escape has not removed any problem.

It has multiplied them.

The Most Important Ending Is the Crash That Never Happened

The dramatic ending is the TVI.

But arguably the most important outcome is something the video never shows.

There is no reported head-on collision with an innocent motorist.

For several terrifying moments, that possibility is present every time the Mazda enters an active southbound lane.

One approaching driver could react too slowly.

One truck could have nowhere to move.

One badly timed lane change could transform the pursuit into a mass-casualty crash.

Instead, the trooper manages to end the vehicle pursuit.

Hathaway runs.

Police catch him.

And the motorists on I-55 continue their journeys.

That makes this pursuit memorable for a reason beyond speed.

It demonstrates how rapidly fleeing police can shift risk away from the person making the decision and onto people who had nothing to do with the original encounter.

Whatever Hathaway hoped to accomplish when he drove away from the trooper, his route placed strangers directly in the path of that decision.

The TVI finally removed that threat.

The Mazda stopped.

The driver ran.

And about a mile later, the final remaining piece of the pursuit ended on foot.

What began beside a Blytheville truck stop had escalated into wrong-way interstate driving, a tactical intervention, a foot pursuit and the discovery of suspected drugs.

All because the driver chose not to remain where the encounter began.