The chase began just before 4:30pm at TC Jester and 11th Street in Houston, and ended almost an hour later at the Austin-Waller County lines.
We had an interesting exchange with both men who were arrested. One was arrested for reckless driving; we're told he was videotaping and yelling out his window at an officer about how to stop this chase. The other man was the one police were pursuing.
It was Edgar Torres's last ride of the night -- the ride into jail. Once he got out of out the police car, he told us why he led law officers on an extensive chase right in the middle of rush hour.
"Why did you run from police?" we asked.
"Just because," he said.
"You on probation?"
"Yes."
Torres is on probation for drug possession out of Harris County. On Thursday, according to police, he was being stopped for speeding when he took off in his white Suburban.
SkyEye HD picked up the chase minutes later near TC Jester and the North Loop. From above, you could see the SUV jump onto the sidewalk, knocking down construction signs while officers scrambled to avoid hitting unsuspecting drivers. Police followed him on side streets, then onto the North Loop and eventually onto the Katy Freeway. There, he squeezed past patrol cars and around a roadblock and managed to avoid spike strips.
The half-hour-long chase finally ended west of Brookshire. Officers say Torres got out and gave up.
"I could have kept going all the way to Laredo," Torres told us.
Not quite true: A DPS trooper had shot his tire out.
In the middle of all this, officers say an overly excited 19-year-old Taylor Reyronel sought out the chase and joined in to document it.
"You were videotaping?" we asked Reyronel.
"Yeah," he said.
"How come?"
"It was cool."
Reyronel also got a ride to jail on Thursday night for interfering.
"Did you cut a police officer off?" we asked Reyronel.
"Not intentionally, but apparently I did," he said.
Both men now faces charges, and Torres had these parting words to say:
"Tell my baby mama I love her," he said.
Unlike HPD, state troopers are allowed to shoot out tires during a high-speed chase. In fact, they're trained to do it.
DPS, HPD, as well as deputies from Precinct 5, Harris and Waller counties were also involved in the chase.
No one was hurt during the chase.
Reyronel did acknowledge that he could have put a lot of officers in danger.
