A Jefferson man in a stolen car led Hurst police on a brief chase Tuesday afternoon before he and a passenger took a wrong turn and abandoned the car in the wrong place: the Hurst Police Department parking lot.
Doh!
One suspect made it about a hundred yards and the second got about 60 before Hurst police came pouring out of the police station and municipal court to apprehend the duo.
Hurst police identified the driver as James Arthur Crawford, 18, (above right) of Jefferson, which is about 200 miles east of Hurst in east Texas; and Camron Butler, 19, of North Richland Hills.
They were in the Hurst City Jail on Wednesday. Butler was being held in lieu of $5,500 and Crawford $47,500.
The chase began about 3:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 300 block of Booth Calloway Road in Hurst. Police were dispatched to a reported hit-and-run accident.
A patrol officer spotted a car that matched the description of the one in the accident and began pursuing it. The chase went from Pipeline Road to the eastbound lanes of the Airport Freeway access road.
The suspect vehicle made a U-turn at the access road and Precinct Line Road in Hurst.
Then the suspected car thief lost his driving mind: He made a hard right which led him into the parking lot of Hurst City Hall and the nearby Hurst police parking lot.
"He went around City Hall and patrol cars with lights following him," said Hurst police Sgt. Craig Teague. "They slowed down when they came to the police parking lot and jumped out."
The car came to a stop after it collided with an unmarked police car.
An abrupt end to a bad idea taken to its logical conclusion.
-- Domingo Ramirez Jr.