Texas Police Chase With Carjacking Suspect Ends With Crash Into Swimming Pool & Underwater Rescue
HARRIS COUNTY (CBSDFW.COM) — It started with the carjacking of a woman at a Houston gas station and ended with police rescuing a passenger trapped underwater in a swimming pool while the driver ran away.
According to officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, it was around 3:00 a.m. when deputies were called to a gas station after a woman said she had been carjacked -- at gunpoint -- by two people.
As deputies were taking an official report from the victim she saw her stolen vehicle drive right by the scene. When deputies turned and saw two people inside the car the driver sped away.
Officers gave chase and after a short distance the driver hit a median, lost control of the car, crashed through a fence, and landed in a swimming pool.
Kudos to our Deputy Flores. As car was submerging in water, he heard noises coming from the car, as a passenger was trapped. Flores sprung into action, went in the water, cracked the window, and pulled the man (a suspect) to safety. He saved his life. #HouNews #lesm https://t.co/l3PlPGOc1l pic.twitter.com/FevKuSfSVo
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) August 6, 2021
Deputies say the driver got out of the submerged vehicle, swam to the edge, got out of the water and ran away -- leaving his passenger trapped underwater in the pool. Instead of pursuing the suspect Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said one of his deputies dove into the water, cracked the car window and pulled the male passenger to safety.
While the search for the driver continues, the rescued passenger was taken into custody for questioning.
A wrecker was called and lifted the vehicle out of the pool.
The homeowners were inside the house when the crash happened and were not injured. There was however, a significant amount of damage done to their fence and pool.
The woman who was carjacked at gunpoint was also uninjured.