Trooper Malcolm Napier says a high speed chase is something no law enforcement officer ever likes being involved in.

"Apart from the public and all it puts us in grave danger." says Napier.

Close to 1 am Wednesday morning, Trooper Napier attempted to pull over 21 year old Eric Fields on I-77 around Bigley Avenue for allegedly driving erratically.

"He was going various speeds 70-80 miles per hour. At one point he turned all his lights off. There were green lights all the way. I don't remember seeing any pedestrians at all. We literally passed two or three cars coming in the opposite direction." says Napier.

The chase ended on Falcon Drive on the west side of Charleston when Fields ran into two cars and broke a gas main.

Wanda hammonds whose home also fell victim to the crash says, "They should know not to chase them out here like that."

She says the police should not have pursued fields into her neighborhood, and although there was mixed response on our Facebook page, some agree with her.

One person said, "The police endanger others lives and property when they chase at these types of speeds."

Another said, "The chases will slow down when an innocent bystander is killed or maimed and a huge settlement is won."

But Sergeant Larry O'bryan says Napier did the right thing.

"This pursuit was a textbook pursuit. It was done within our guidelines. Napier even gave safe distance." says O'Bryan.

Napier says, "I could not see him at all by the time he crashed and my dashcam will support that. He chose to flee. We just responded. He's in charge of it. We just want it to end. That's all we want."

Napier says he did talk to Charleston Police and the Kanawha County Sheriff's Department in an attempt to get spike strips so Fields wouldn't wreck, but the chase was only 2-3 minutes long. Napier also said when he was on scene the Hammonds only seemed angry at Fields and Fields told them he would try to help them rebuild their home.