Oct 9, 2009 5:29 pm US/Central
100-Mile Police Chase Ends In Navarro County
NORTH TEXAS (CBS 11 / TXA 21) ―
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Clinton Middleton
Texas Dept. of Criminal Justice
A two-hour police chase that started in Grayson County ended in a water-filled ditch in rural Navarro County Friday.
Officers from both the Howe and Melissa Police Departments were involved in the chase of the gray pickup. Troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) also assisted.
The chase began in Grayson County, moved into Collin County, then Dallas and Ellis Counties, and ended in Navarro County.
Police were finally able to stop the male driver, now identified as 22-year-old Clinton Middleton, near the Town of Valley Farms after surrounding the truck and bumping it from behind several times. The impact sent the truck into a water-filled ditch.
An officer approached the vehicle with his gun drawn and was able to get Middleton out of the vehicle and onto the ground without incident.
When the driver was pulled from the truck he appeared to still be talking on a cell phone.
At several times during the multi-county chase officers threw out stop sticks to deflate the truck tires. Each attempt failed.
Officials say the incident began when Middleton allegedly drove off from a Murphy Gas Station, at the Sherman Wal-Mart on East Highway 82, without paying. An employee from the gas station started following the driver and called 911.
Sherman police contacted Van Alstyne police who were unable to pull the suspect over.
When the driver reached the City of Melissa officers tried to stop the vehicle using road spikes. In an attempt to dodge them, police say Middleton nearly hit Melissa Police Department Chief Duane Smith.
"During the deployment of those stop sticks the individual swerved his vehicle, nearly striking our chief, while attempting to get around those stop sticks," explained Sgt. Kyle Babcock with the Melissa Police Department. "At that point it raised the seriousness of this offense from more than a theft of gas, to violence against a police officer."
Apparently uninjured by the incident, Chief Smith drove after the suspect and remained with the police chase until it ended in the Corsicana area.
After being taken into custody Middleton claimed he hadn't stolen any gasoline. "I got some gas from the store. A lady followed me, saying that I didn't pay her. I don't even think she worked at Wal-Mart. Then uh, police tried to pull me over," he said.
When asked about trying to run over Chief Smith Middleton said, "He ran in the middle of the highway; I swerved to miss him. If I would've kept going straight, yeah I would've hit him. It's not my fault he ran in the middle of the road."
The suspect said he felt he would be taken back to jail because he has outstanding warrants.
Texas Department of Criminal Justice Public Information Officer Jason Clark says Middleton has served time in state prison for evading arrest, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, burglary, forgery and credit card abuse.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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