Officers apprehend suspect after 120 mph chase in Llano County
LLANO COUNTY, Texas (FOX 7 Austin) - A high-speed chase through several jurisdictions came to an end in Llano County after multiple agencies joined the pursuit.
The chase started near Brady on April 28 and went on for more than 60 miles.
“That was a pretty long pursuit,” said Lt. Brad Evans with the Llano County Sheriff’s Office.
A Texas Department of Public Safety trooper was the first officer behind the suspect and she was the only one chasing him for a majority of the pursuit, but, eventually, officers with the Llano County Sheriff's Office and Llano Police Department helped put it to an end.
Body camera video shows a Llano police sergeant who joined the chase that passed through multiple counties. At times the officer can be seen driving more than 115 miles per hour.
“Anytime you get up to high rates of speed, depending on the time of day, they can be very dangerous for the citizens, the officer and the suspect,” Evans said.
The pursuit hit 120 miles per hour at one point. Evans said high-speed chases are not uncommon in their part of the state.
“They come and go. In the last month, I believe we've had three that were actually initiated outside of our county and then came through our county,” said Evans. “When we get word that one is coming to our county, we get as close to the county line as we can."
The chase finally ended when a Llano County deputy got far enough ahead of the suspect to deploy spike strips.
“The spike strips actually got all four tires, but it wasn't something that the tires just blew out and he lost control or anything. The suspect started to slow down to about 60 miles an hour and then he lost a tire and that's when he decided to stop,” Evans said.
Police said the suspect was driving a stolen car and had warrants in other jurisdictions.
Lt. James Molloy, who teaches police skills at the Austin Community College Public Safety Training Center, said responding to high-speed pursuits takes a lot of practice and self-restraint.
“When you start getting into really, really high speeds, and you're driving, you've got to start looking a lot further down the road,” Molloy said.
The first thing any responder has to do is assess the situation.
“What is the crime I'm pursuing, what is the cause of this pursuit and then what is the risk to not just the officer and the person being pursued, but what is the risk to the general public around it?” said Molloy.
Luckily, in this case, officers got the situation under control before anyone was injured.
“If you can get it stopped out in the rural area of the county, then that's always better,” Evans said.
The investigation is being led by the Texas Department of Public Safety.