Suspects crash into backyard pool after high-speed chase in NW Harris County
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) -- A wild early Friday morning chase ended with a big surprise for homeowners in a northwest Harris County neighborhood. The suspects crashed into a backyard pool.
"Possibly has a gun. Get a perimeter set. Get a canine. Vehicle's in the pool. I got one trapped," a deputy could be heard reporting on the radio.
It all started when Harris County sheriff's deputies responded to an armed carjacking in the 12200 block of Veterans Memorial around 1 a.m. Friday.
The female victim told deputies she was sitting at a gas station when a suspect held a gun to her head and demanded her car.
Hours later, around 3 a.m., as deputies were filing a carjacking report with the woman at the gas station, she saw the suspects drive by in her stolen Honda CRV.
When deputies spotted the stolen car, the suspects took off. That's when the chase began.
The suspects sped southbound on Walters Road and deputies followed behind. After a short chase, the driver eventually hit a median and lost control of the car, crashing through the backyard fence of a home at Briarchase and Walters Road in the Hambledon neighborhood, deputies said.
After blowing through the fence, deputies say the car crashed into the homeowners' pool.
ABC13 was the first on the scene. Video shows damage to the fence. SkyEye flew above the neighborhood and captured video of the Honda CRV in the pool. You can see the footage in the video player above.
Deputies said the driver swam out of the Honda and began to run. Meanwhile, his passenger was trapped underwater. Deputies chose to jump in the water and rescue the passenger instead of pursue the driver.
"The passenger of the carjacked vehicle was stuck inside the vehicle. Our deputies jumped in the pool and rescued him while the driver got away," K.W. Cote with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said. "Either go chase the guy, or let the other one drown. So he chose to get the guy who was still trapped in the car."
The passenger of the car was taken into custody at the scene, but the driver managed to run away, according to the sheriff's office.
Investigators set up a perimeter in the neighborhood and searched for the remaining suspect, who they believe could be armed.
Deputies say the carjacking victim was not injured, she was just shaken up.
The homeowners were also uninjured. They were reportedly sleeping when they heard a crash and woke up to see a car in their pool.
