Man wanted after leading chase out of Galveston County, ditching car in fiery crash, sheriff says

GALVESTON COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- Authorities are searching for a suspect who ditched a fiery crash scene after leading a chase from Galveston County into Harris County on Thursday evening.

Sheriff Henry Trochesset said a deputy with Galveston County tried to conduct a traffic stop on the suspect, identified as Jafar Otems, because he had a felony warrant for his arrest on a deadly conduct charge. Otems, 22, failed to stop, sparking the chase around the Gulf Freeway and FM 518, the sheriff said.

As the pursuit headed north at El Dorado, Trochesset said the deputy called off the chase due to unsafe driving conditions.

Moments later, the suspect's vehicle crashed along the Gulf Freeway feeder road at Scarsdale and burst into flames. Houston TranStar video from about 6:40 p.m. showed the fiery wreck. The 2022 Nissan Rouge was just a shell when the fire was out.

Houston police, who worked the crash scene, said Otems' SUV hit a trailer, caught on fire, and then hit another vehicle. No one else was hurt.

He jumped out and ran off into the woods near a neighborhood, police said. A search yielded nothing.

Otems was still at large Thursday night.

According to court records, Otems was involved in a robbery at Bush Airport in April 2022. He shot at a car several times in a busy airport parking garage when his co-defendants left him behind, records state.

For more on this story, follow Jessica Willey on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.