A South Carolina man is charged with attempted murder for pulling a knife on a Causeway Police officer at the culmination of a high-speed chase Wednesday evening on the bridge.

Nick Congemi, chief of the Causeway Police, said calls began coming into dispatch shortly before 5 p.m. Wednesday reporting a man driving erratically in a white car on the southbound span of the Causeway.

“We have great help from the motorist that use our bridge on the regular basis,” Congemi said. The car was located on the bridge’s cameras and Cpl. Blake Kirby was dispatched to the scene.

Congemi said the vehicle was clocked at 103 miles per hour and was weaving through traffic. Kirby used his lights and sirens in an attempt to stop the vehicle, which was driven by 32-year-old Jason Criswell of Goose Creek, S.C. He said while the vehicle did slow down some it did not stop. Kirby followed the car past three crossovers and was nearing the end of the bridge on the Southshore, when he was finally able to pass Criswell. He pulled his police cruiser perpendicular on the bridge and unable to pass, Criswell rammed the police cruiser, causing damage severe enough that Kirby was unable to exit the car using the door.

When Criswell exited his vehicle and approached the police cruiser, Kirby noticed that he was wielding a knife.

Pulling his police-issued revolver from its holster, Kirby climbed out of his vehicle’s window and approached Criswell. He was able to restrain him, place him in handcuffs and ultimately put him in a second police cruiser that had arrived on the scene.

Once in the cruiser, Criswell bashed his head against the cage in the vehicle, and when brought to Jefferson Parish lockup, he continued to fight, refusing to submit to a Breathalyzer test and grabbing onto a file cabinet when officers tried to move him to another location.

Congemi said the officers on the scene reported that he reeked of alcohol.

Criswell, who Carlton Dufrechou, general manager of the Causeway, said has a history of high-speed chases, was charged with attempted first-degree murder, reckless operation, criminal damage to property, driving under the influence, illegal carrying of a weapon, aggravated flight from an officer, resisting an officer, self mutilation and battery on an officer. He was booked into the Jefferson Parish Jail.

Dufrechou applauded Kirby for the way he handled this incident, saying he quite possibly saved lives by preventing Criswell from getting closer to the end of the bridge, where traffic was heavier and cars were stopped at a red light.

“He (Criswell) obviously posed a tremendous danger to the commuters southbound but also to the motorists headed northbound,” he said. “I am extremely proud of not only Officer Kirby but the entire team.”