Monday, June 23, 2008

Police Pursue Seatbelt Violator in Houston

Early Monday morning, the Houston Police Department began pursuing a silver, two-door car through the streets of Houston at dangerously high speeds. The offense? The driver wasn't wearing his seatbelt.

Beginning in North Houston, the chase, which lasted approximately thirty minutes, moved through the Medical Center and the Galleria area - both areas of high pedestrian traffic. At points, the driver of the silver, two-door attempted to evade police by driving on the wrong side of the road. The chase continued on surface streets for sometime before eventually moving onto the freeway. There, the driver weaved in an out of traffic and drove on the shoulder. The chase ended when the suspect swerved, barely missing another car, and careened into a guardrail.

We at PursuitWatch believe this chase to be completely unnecessary. At the time the chase was authorized, the officers thought they were pursuing a suspect for a mere seatbelt violation - hardly warranting possible harm to innocent bystanders. PursuitWatch will be watching this story closely, and we will provide more details as they become available.


Video of the pursuit can be seen here: http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou080623_ac_sloopchase.2f27177b.html

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good deal, the police arrested a dangerous felon, one that was willing to place anyone and everyone in harms way to get away. They should make fleeing from the police in a vehicle a capital felony. Why not, they know they can kill people when they run from the police?

Anonymous said...

HMMM... I wonder if the officer ran the plates from the vehicle? Probably! Then what? He knows he is dealing with a wanted felon! Just because the officer spotted a minor traffic offense does not mean that is the only reason for the pursuit.

In my opinion, the headline for this story should read: ALERT POLICE OFFICER SPOTS MINOR TRAFFIC VIOLATION THAT LEADS TO THE ARREST OF A WANTED FELON

Of course, no police loathing newspaper would ever print that!!!

Tina said...

To "Anonymous":

The post clearly states: "At the time the chase was authorized, the officers thought they were pursuing a suspect for a mere seatbelt violation." The plates had not been run before the chase ensued, or the report would have clearly indicated that.

This isn't about hating police officers, it is about creating policies that protect innocent bystanders. PursuitWatch works WITH law enforcement officers to make sure that they do the job they are hired to do: KEEP THE GENERAL PUBLIC SAFE.

justin mcdaniel said...

Yeah but why would a person run from the police if the only law they were violating was a seatbelt law...that means there was definitely something more behind why they were running, and thank goodness we have police officers who are "smart" enough to know that there is a bigger reason for them running...good chase in my book.

Anonymous said...

Amiable dispatch and this post helped me alot in my college assignement. Thanks you on your information.

Anonymous said...

The video link is gone anybody know another link for this pursuit.

Anonymous said...

Just because someone flees does not automatically mean that they did something more than a minor traffic violation. Teenager especially many times try to flee from the cops for fear of being arrested, or getting a ticket and having to deal with their parents. While stupid, and not worth risking other peoples lives they do not think of those things at the moment they decide to flee.

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