12:36 AM CDT on Sunday, September 7, 2008
A Dallas police officer is being treated at Baylor University Medical Center for leg injuries after his squad car crashed into a tree during a high-speed chase that ended in Pleasant Grove.
The officer’s name was not immediately released, but his injuries are not expected to be life-threatening, said Dallas police spokesman Gerardo Monreal.
The chase began in Lake Highlands when a woman called 911 to report that her ex-boyfriend was trying to get inside the gates to see her at the Oakwood Creek Condos in the 7900 block of Skillman Street.
Two officers arrived and parked near the man’s vehicle. They got out to talk to him, but he sped off, crashing into both officers’ cars. “They had to jump out of the way to avoid him,” Cpl. Monreal said.
As the high-speed chase progressed, officers attempted to stop the suspect by puncturing his tires near Interstate 30 and Jim Miller Road.
At about 9:30 p.m., the officer hit the tree on Cheyenne Road about a half mile south of Lake June Road, which is near where the suspect abandoned his vehicle and began running. He was captured by police a few blocks away in the 800 block of Bitter Creek Drive.
Another officer drove into a drainage ditch during the chase.
No injuries were reported.
The suspect is expected to be charged with assaulting the officers at the start of the chase, Cpl. Monreal said. The suspect was still being questioned at Dallas police headquarters late Saturday night.