Fort Worth police officers shot at during chase that ended in Haltom City
FORT WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - A police chase ends with two Fort Worth police officers being shot at by a suspect in a stolen car.
Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes said at 10:48 a.m. flock cameras alerted the department about a stolen vehicle near the Central Patrol station in downtown Fort Worth.
When officers tried to pull the car over, the suspects in the car rushed off. That's when police said the chase started.
"During the pursuit, a male suspect fired multiple shots at the officers who were pursuing, multiple shots," said Noakes.
The pursuit ran through several streets including 28th Street and Riverside Drive, where witnesses at a local restaurant described what they heard and saw.
"We heard three shots coming out from them, after that five police cars chasing after him and then two more SUVs and two more trucks came by after that," said witness Alex Outhavong.
"We were just working setting up and we heard the gunshots and we were surprised, it's kind of normal around here but it was right out here so we heard everything and we didn't know whether to duck," said witness Andrew Tuvela.
The chase ended minutes later on the I-820 eastbound service road and Denton Highway in Haltom City, where the suspect's stolen vehicle crashed into another car, the two inside were treated at the scene with minor injuries.
The two suspects tried to run away but were arrested shortly after.
The woman, who was the driver, was arrested for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and for evading arrest. The man was arrested for three felony assaults with a deadly weapon as well as other charges stemming from this chase.
Chief Noakes said the two officers who were being fired at were not injured.
Noakes credits his violence crime initiative on catching these suspects.
"Words can't even express how proud I am of the officers and the work they did today and the bravery that showed that the suspect who fired at the officers was someone we've been searching for as part of our violent crime imitative. He was on our radar. Because of the technology that we have, with the flock cameras we were able to locate the vehicle that he was in and take him into custody but not before officers were shot at," said Noakes.
Two guns were recovered at the scene.
