Police chase leads to search after crowded truck crashes, people flee

KATY, TX (KTRK) -- Police are searching for seven people who ran from truck that crashed at I-10 near Pederson after a high-speed chase.

Authorities say an off-duty state trooper was on the Katy Freeway at about 12:45pm when he saw a man poke his head out from under a tarp that was in the back of a pickup. The trooper got the license plate of the vehicle, and the vehicle had been reported stolen.

Officers tried to pull the vehicle over, but the pickup took off.

The chase went on the Katy Freeway, but ultimately the vehicle got off on Pederson near Kingsland, where it crashed through a gate and into some rice fields and brush.

Seven people ran off, six were detained by officers and two went to the hospital.

Several people are now in custody.

Authorities are working together on the ground and in the air, searching now for the people who fled the scene. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is also responding.