AWOL Fort Hood soldier arrested after high-speed chase in Louisiana remains jailed
FORT HOOD, Texas (KWTX) – Fort Hood Pfc. Edward Patrick Casteel, 28, who disappeared from post last week and was later listed as absent without leave, remained in custody Tuesday in Lincoln Parish, La., where he was arrested after a high-speed chase on Interstate 20.
Casteel is held in lieu of $3,500 bond, according to online records, charged with speeding and resisting arrest by flight.
He was booked into the Lincoln Parish Jail at around 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 6 after a deputy clocked him driving a Chevrolet Cobalt at 92 mph in a 70-mph zone on eastbound Interstate 20, an arrest affidavit says.
The deputy tried to pull him over, but Casteel didn’t stop, the affidavit says.
The chase ended after a Ruston, La., police officer pulled in front of Casteel’s car and he and the deputy were able to box the Cobalt in, the affidavit says.
“I brandished my service weapon and ordered Casteel to exit the vehicle with his hands where I could see them,” the deputy wrote, adding Casteel complied.
“When Casteel was asked why he didn’t stop, he was unable to give a consistent answer,” the deputy wrote, although he “did admit to both seeing my marked unit, lights and sirens,”
Fort Hood, in an earlier statement, said Casteel, an infantryman assigned to 1-8 Cavalry Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, left post “on his own accord” early just after midnight on the morning of Oct. 7 and failed to report for duty later that morning.
“When he did not report for duty, the unit immediately began a search of the unit area, including his barracks room and unit parking lots, and has been in constant contact with his family members and friends in an attempt to locate him,” the post said.
The date of disappearance is inconsistent with arrest records, which show he was taken into custody on Oct. 6.
The discrepancy wasn’t immediately explained.
“When he did not report for duty, the unit immediately began a search of the unit area, including his barracks room and unit parking lots, and has been in constant contact with his family members and friends in an attempt to locate him,” the post said.
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