01.06.26
by

TWO FLEEING SUSPECTS ARRESTED IN CRYSTAL RUN FARMS

(Middletown, DE. 19709) On Friday, January 2, 2026, at approximately 11:08 p.m., an Officer with the New Castle County Division of Police, while on patrol, observed an older-model blue-and-white two-tone Ford F-150 leaving a section of the Whitehall development that is currently under construction. As the vehicle exited the development, the Officer observed the driver commit a traffic violation and activated emergency lights to initiate a motor vehicle stop on Lorewood Grove Road.

The driver immediately failed to stop and fled at an unsafe speed. The Officer subsequently lost sight of the vehicle; however, a short time later, another Officer located the truck on Ratledge Road, where the driver again failed to stop and continued to flee from Officers. The vehicle eventually entered the Crystal Run Farms neighborhood, where both occupants exited the truck and ran away into a wooded area in the 100 block of Crystal Run Drive.

The Delaware State Police Aviation Section, Trooper 4, was requested to assist with an aerial search and, upon arrival, located one of the suspects hiding in a wooded area near the railroad tracks. Officers quickly converged on the location and took 46-year-old Eric Loudermilk of Elkton, Maryland, the driver of the vehicle, into custody. With continued assistance from Trooper 4, the passenger, 59-year-old Thomas Yates of Dover, Delaware, was later located on the railroad tracks and taken into custody without further incident.

Eric Loudermilk was transported to New Castle County Police Headquarters, where he was charged with the following offenses:

  • One felony count of Disregarding a Police Officer’s Signal
  • One misdemeanor count of Resisting Arrest
  • One misdemeanor count of Conspiracy in the Third Degree
  • One misdemeanor count of Failure to Have Insurance in Possession
  • One misdemeanor count of Operating an Unregistered Motor Vehicle
  • One violation for Speeding in Excess of the Posted Speed Limit
  • One violation for Failure to Signal Continuously
  • One violation of Criminal Trespass in the Third Degree

Loudermilk was arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court 11 and committed to the Howard R. Young Correctional Institution after failing to post $2,005.00 secured bail.

Thomas Yates was transported to New Castle County Police Headquarters, where he was charged with the following offenses:

  • One misdemeanor count of Resisting Arrest
  • One misdemeanor count of Conspiracy in the Third Degree
  • One violation of Criminal Trespass in the Third Degree

Yates was arraigned at Justice of the Peace Court 11 and released on $1,001.00 unsecured bail.

Eric Loudermilk – 46

Thomas Yates – 59