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