Burglary At Car Dealership Leads To Chase & Standoff
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MCKINNEY (CBSDFW.COM) - An attempted burglary at a luxury car dealer in Richardson turned into a police chase and standoff in McKinney early Tuesday morning. The situation started at about 2:00 a.m. at the Lamborghini dealership located in the 600 block of Central Expressway.
The suspect has since been taken into custody.
Authorities responded to the burglary call, and the suspect began firing shots at a police officer. Police fired back. Nobody was injured during the exchange of gunfire. The suspect then hopped into a vehicle -- an SUV, not a Lamborghini -- and fled from the scene. Officers started to follow the suspect as he traveled on Central Expressway heading north.
The suspect eventually stopped his vehicle in the middle of the highway, at this point in the 2000 block of Central Expressway in McKinney. He held police there in a standoff, as officers attempted to open a line of communication. Authorities laid down spike strips, and shot pepper spray and beanbag rounds into the vehicle. But none of it worked.
After three hours, the suspect drove off again, continuing northbound along Highway 75. Police resumed their pursuit.
The renewed chase came to a halt again a short time later, further north along the freeway, in Van Alstyne. Surrounded by two SWAT team vehicles, the suspect was finally taken into custody at this location, just before 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning. It took a Taser to stun the suspect so that he could be arrested.
"Officers were being very patient trying to get him out, didn't want to go to that next level, didn't want to get up to his vehicle and see where he might pull a gun on them or make some type of movement where they had to resort to deadly force. That's the reason they took their time," said Sgt. Kevin Perlich with the Richardson Police Department.
Perlich added that the 19-year-old suspect was likely on some kind of drug. His name has not yet been released. He is now at the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. The suspect faces a charge of attempted capital murder for firing shots at police.
Authorities determined that the SUV being driven by the suspect had been stolen out of either Fort Worth or Arlington.
The incident had both sides of the highway seeing off-and-on closures Tuesday morning, as the suspect stopped and started to travel further north. With the standoff situation now over, traffic should be clear again. Keep an eye on the traffic map for the latest road updates.
Meanwhile, investigators have started collecting evidence from the car dealership in Richardson. Images from the scene show a large window broken out.