Officer opens fire at suspected car thief, leading to East Freeway chase, HPD says
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The Houston Police Department tracked down two auto theft suspects related to a chaotic scene along the East Freeway on Wednesday afternoon, during which an officer opened fire and police chased a stolen truck.
"We have two suspects going in different directions. One in the vehicle, one on foot. We had an officer just discharge his weapon, so it was very chaotic," HPD Assistant Chief Megan Howard said.
HPD said the incident started at about 12:30 p.m. as a proactive auto theft investigation near Interstate 10 and Mercury. According to police, officers spotted two suspects in an SUV engaged in suspicious behavior "like professionals who do this all the time," as Howard said.
Before long, one suspect was leaving a parking lot in a red Dodge truck that he allegedly had just stolen. The other suspect was in the vehicle they arrived in, and when officers tried to block the cars, the chase was on.
The red truck was caught on traffic cameras weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds until the suspect gave up near U.S. 59 and Eastway Village Drive.
SkyEye flew over that active scene, where HPD units and the red pickup stopped on the feeder road.
Meantime, the other suspect, whom police boxed in at the original scene, drove toward an officer with a shotgun, who then fired at him, Howard said.
"Officer discharges two times. Suspect stops right here and bails out of the car and runs on foot," she said.
That suspect, wearing a black shirt and khaki shorts, dodged cars and trucks as he ran across multiple lanes of I-10, through parking lots, across a ditch, and into a backyard near where Jacob Martinez mowed.
"Out of the corner of my eye, I (saw) a black shirt fly over the fence. I went to check it out, but I didn't see anything weird," Martinez said, speculating that the suspect discarded the shirt so he would not be recognized.
Police eventually found the suspect under a mattress in an unused garage next door. Video shared only with ABC13 shows officers escorting the shirtless suspect to custody.
"I hope he realizes he did something wrong, and the Lord can forgive him," Martinez said.
No one was hurt in the chase or by the gunfire, police said. Authorities have yet to identify the suspects.
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