Driver Hits Salina Business on Pursuit

A Salina man is facing several charges after he led deputies on a winding pursuit that ended in hitting a Pizza Hut.

Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan tells KSAL News that the incident started at 2 a.m. Sunday morning. A deputy saw a vehicle with no headlights on accelerate hard onto S. Broadway Boulevard. A traffic stop was attempted, but the vehicle fled.

The white 2014 Chrysler 300 made several turns in western Salina, and it eventually hit a curb and took out some fence while turning onto Santa Fe Avenue. The vehicle continued south before the driver hit the brakes at Minneapolis St., left the roadway and struck the Pizza Hut at 1200 S. Santa Fe. Soldan said that the business had some minor damage.

The driver, later identified as 37-year-old Joel Shuler of Salina, was taken into custody and is facing charges that include DUI, flee and elude, reckless driving and many more traffic violations.