Car Chase/Shoot 'em up in Denton County today

[Greybeard]

Sorry, no link on it yet.

I was at traffic signal around 10:00 in Argyle this morning when a northbound silver Cherokee turned west at 377/407 with three flavors of LEO vehilces in hot pursuit. Just after I turned east on 407 a DPS super-shamu was in 5'th gear to join the fun - but then got delayed by a northbound train.

Fox 4 at 6:00 had a little burb that said gunshots were used to take out the tires before a footchase that eventually nabbed the idiot around Justin ...

[stevie_d_64]

"Super-Shamu"???

Is that that NASCAR Winston Cup "modified" Crown Vic in DPS livery???

Nitrous Oxide, balanced and blue-printed, super-charged, V8...

[Greybeard]

Stevie - I think that Shamu was a plain Jane hopped up Pony car. Curiously tho, DPS is not mentioned in article that I just located.

It does not appear that the women's panties in his pocket provided very much "good luck".
:D

http://www.dentonrc.com/sharedcontent/r ... 07ef0.html

Suspect leads authorities in wild chase through area cities
07:11 AM CDT on Tuesday, August 9, 2005

By Donna Fielder / Staff Writer



A suspected car burglar led several law enforcement agencies across southwest Denton County Monday morning in a chase that at times involved gunfire, a rammed squad car, a damaged trailer, a spinout and a foot chase before it ended in the man’s arrest in Justin.


John Reed
John William Reed Jr., 35, of Seymour was awaiting arraignment on several felony charges, including two charges of aggravated assault of a peace officer, Monday afternoon. He could not be reached for comment.

The incident started at 9:47 a.m. in Denton when an employee of Jostens Inc. reported a man was attempting to break into cars in the parking lot in the 3500 block of South Interstate 35E. Two Denton motorcycle officers were nearby and spotted the man, who jumped into a silver Jeep Cherokee and fled, said Denton Officer Jim Bryan.

“It began to rain, and it’s too dangerous for motorcycles at high speeds in the rain, so the motorcycle officers stopped the pursuit,� Bryan said.

Denton radioed a description of the Jeep to area law enforcement agencies, the Denton spokesman said.

Denton County sheriff’s deputies blocked roads in the area, said spokesman Tom Reedy. Officers from Argyle, Justin, Double Oak, Constable Precinct 4 and Northlake joined the pursuit that led across the southwest part of the county at speeds of up to 100 mph.

Precinct 4 Deputy Constable Barry Minoff is assigned to patrol the Bartonville area. He heard the radio call and realized he was near the fleeing Jeep, he said. He turned from FM407 onto Copper Canyon Road.

“I didn’t get more than a couple hundred feet till I met him and he tried to hit me head-on,� Minoff said. “I swerved into the median to avoid him. I hadn’t even joined the pursuit at that point, but I turned around and was second behind Double Oak [police].�

The chase led through Bartonville and Flower Mound, through Argyle and Northlake, with officers from those agencies joining the pursuit.

A Justin unit joined the fray when the chase entered the officer’s city limits, where the Jeep abruptly turned into a construction site, Minoff said. The suspect lost control and struck a flatbed trailer.

A Double Oak officer, thinking the pursuit was over, pulled behind the Jeep, the constable said. The Jeep rammed the Double Oak squad car. A Justin officer fired at the tires of the Jeep in an attempt to stop it, but the driver took off again.

A mile farther, the Jeep struck a tree, Minoff said.

“I parked directly behind him. I got out with my weapon drawn. All of a sudden, I saw the reverse lights come on. He started backing up. He tried to run me over,� Minoff said. “I was in fear of my life. I fired five shots into his tires.�

But that still didn’t stop the Jeep. The driver threw the Jeep into forward gear and drove off again on flat tires.

The vehicles were on FM407 again when an Argyle unit performed a “pursuit intervention technique.� The Argyle squad car struck the back left of the Jeep with its right front, which spun the Jeep around. It came to rest in a ditch.

But the driver wasn’t through running. He jumped out and led the officers on a short foot chase over a fence before he was caught and handcuffed.

Reedy said a search of the man’s pockets revealed a flat-head screwdriver, a stolen wallet containing someone else’s identification and two pair of women’s panties, which the suspect said were for good luck.

He was still being questioned Monday evening but was expected to be transported to the Denton County Jail while the agencies sorted out the charges and who would file them.

DONNA FIELDER can be reached at 940-566-6885. Her e-mail address is dfielder@dentonrc.com

[eagleeye]

The panties may have provided some good luck. The officer "in fear of his life" chose to shoot at tires.

[Braden]

Sorry, no link on it yet.

I was at traffic signal around 10:00 in Argyle this morning when a northbound silver Cherokee turned west at 377/407 with three flavors of LEO vehilces in hot pursuit. Just after I turned east on 407 a DPS super-shamu was in 5'th gear to join the fun - but then got delayed by a northbound train.

Fox 4 at 6:00 had a little burb that said gunshots were used to take out the tires before a footchase that eventually nabbed the idiot around Justin ...

Saw a chase myself yesterday, only it didn't end so well. I was returning from Lake Lewisville last night and stopped at the Whataburger @ Southwest Pkwy and Business 121 in Lewisville. I eat and pull out onto Southwest Pkway and get ready to turn right on 121 when I hear sirens. I look up and think it is an ambulance or three, so I decide to wait. As they approach, I see that it is not an ambulance at all. It is three Coppell PD Tahoes in hot pursuit of a Dodge dually pickup with a flatbed and a big brushguard on front, who is flying through traffic at speeds that had to be 70+ mph...pedal to the floor. He runs the red light rignt in front of me and T-bones a Corvette on the driver's side. He hit so hard the back of the truck came off the ground.

The truck jumps the median and comes to a stop against the curb, where the driver bails out and takes off running on foot. The Coppell police were right behind him and caught him in short order. About a dozen Lewisville cars show up out of nowhere and pretty soon the ambulances and fire trucks appear.

I haven't heard the latest on the driver of the Vette, but if he's still alive then he was one very lucky dude. He left in Care Flight and that was the last I saw of him.

Bad deal. I never heard why the guy was running. All of this happened right in front of me so I pulled in the Quick Trip parking lot and waited just in case they wanted witnesses (which they did).

[Braden]

“I was in fear of my life. I fired five shots into his tires.�

Tell me that guy hasn't been trained on exactly what to say if you have to shoot at someone. ;)

[Greybeard]

Sorry to hear about the guy in the 'vette. ' Hope he made it ...

"In fear of my life." Oh yea, just a little bit of training behind one. Not to mention USMC, Southeast Asia, Tet Offensive era. On second thought, the driver probably does not have a clue how "lucky" those panties really may have been ...

Yep, it sounds like the crazies were really out in Denton County this past week. There was evidently another chase Tuesday that started in Denton and resulted with a Trooper taking a round in the femur. Unable to find link on it, but understand that it ended with a standoff at BG's house and him taking a single shout to the head ...

[Renegade]

“I was in fear of my life. I fired five shots into his tires.�

Tell me that guy hasn't been trained on exactly what to say if you have to shoot at someone. ;)

If I was in fear for my life, I would shoot the driver not the tires. Were they firestones or something? Good thing his life was not really in danger or he would be dead, since his shooting the tires did nothing (But that still didn’t stop the Jeep. The driver threw the Jeep into forward gear and drove off again on flat tires.)

[Braden]

Sorry to hear about the guy in the 'vette. ' Hope he made it ...

So do I but I haven't been able to find any news on it since that night. If he died I fully expect to be called as a witness since it all happened right in front of me.

[Greybeard]

Braden, it would not surprise me if you eventually get called as a witness, whether he makes it or not. Back around 2000 or 2001, I got a subpoena related to having been on the same construction jobsite where the accident was all the way back in 1995 ...

Anyhoo, I hope the guy in the 'vette pulls through - and had good "underinsured motorist" coverage ...