Chase ends after suspect shoots himself
Submitted by jcht2010 on
By Lisa Shapiro, Staff Writer
A pursuit starting in Port Lavaca ended about 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 18 in El Toro after a red truck driven by Kellen Smith, 28, of Port Lavaca shot himself with an Arminius HW 38 six-shot revolver just off of U.S. Highway 59 near the El Toro exit.
The chase began at 5 p.m. shortly after the Port Lavaca Police Department received a phone call to serve a felony warrant.
Port Lavaca police officers did pull over Smith because they had recognized him, Trooper Gerald Bryant of the Texas Department of Public Safety said. The suspect later fled from police officers at a high speed.
"It's always a danger for officers when chasing them at a high speed," Bryant said.
Capt. Abel Arriazola of Victoria County said Smith did have an active warrant at the time of the pursuit and it was issued in Victoria County.
Jackson County Sheriff Andy Louderback said Smith did not threaten law enforcement officers during the chase. Louderback, three Jackson County deputies, two Edna Police Department officers and Police Chief Clinton Wooldridge responded to the chase. Wooldridge said the Edna Police Department and the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department assisted with the pursuit.
He said the Edna PD and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office placed spikes about a mile away from the El Toro underpass. The two front tires of the suspect’s vehicle were spiked, then the suspect drove over the railroad tracks into the front yard of a private residence. Wooldridge suspected the vehicle was disabled when it came to a final stop on the other side of the tracks.
Bryant said he did not know when the shooting occurred.
“When the officers went up to the vehicle (2006 red Dodge pick-up truck) he had already shot himself,” he said.
Wooldridge said the Ganado Police Department also put out spikes about a mile further away from the spikes set up by Edna police officers and Jackson County sheriff deputies in case the suspect got away.
He said an ambulance did arrive at the scene, but Smith was life-flighted to Memorial Hermann Health System after law enforcement discovered the gun. The suspect died at 10:20 p.m. later that night.
The Jackson County Sheriff’s Office and the Department of Public Safety began chasing the truck near U.S. Highway 59 and Farm-to-Market 234 in El Toro.
“The vehicle was heading north on FM 234 in El Toro,” he said.
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