High Speed Chase (2023) s01e05 Episode Script

1
Subjects inside the vehicle are to
be considered armed and dangerous.
- Hang on. Hang on.
- Officer down.
This pursuit was the craziest
I've been on in my career.
One false move, it's game over.
Take him out. Take him out!
Things that you're recommended
not to do had to be done.
I began getting into a hunt mode.
We had our prey.
Shots fired! Shots fired!
I just basically have a front row
seat to a catastrophe.
My name is Chief Ryan Burkholder,
I work in a small town,
and everybody refers to me as Chief Ryan.
It was in the early morning hours.
The officer that was working at the
time came to my door
and notified my family and I that
there's a problem out on interstate
and it involved Officer Francis.
It was really unclear exactly
what was going on.
There was a rumor,
something about a shooting,
then there was another rumor that it
had something to do with a pursuit.
But all I focused on was the fact
that Dom needed us.
I grabbed everything and I just
remember sprinting out the door.
Be advised, Hancock County SO just called
to say they had received a 911 call
of an officer laying in the
southbound lane by his cruiser.
Allen County is sending
a unit to check on him.
They haven't heard from him.
I could see the lights. I knew
from the way it looked it was bad.
And when I pulled up, I could see
the expression on people's face.
Officer down, Bluffton officer down.
Commence CPR.
When I arrived on the scene,
Officer Francis
was already pronounced dead.
Coroner is advising.
I found out that Officer Francis
was called out
to assist the State Highway Patrol
for a pursuit with a stolen vehicle.
He positioned himself
to deploy stop sticks,
and Officer Francis was struck.
There's no playbook for this.
You pray that it never happens.
It's the biggest fear
that you could have as a chief,
to lose one of your officers.
Our focus was "let's make sure
we get him apprehended."
We just passed a spike.
Six is taking in the median.
Three suspects fled
from the vehicle on foot
around 3:00 a.m. on County Road 29.
One of the suspects was located
and was arrested.
At approximately 2.30 a.m.,
on Interstate-75 near exit 142,
Officer Dominic Francis
of the Bluffton Police Department
was attempting to deploy stop sticks
when he was struck by the suspect vehicle.
His heart was big.
Not only was he a police officer,
he was a school teacher,
he was a bus driver,
he was a coach to the youth
in this community.
He had a heart of gold,
and he will be sorely missed.
Knowing that you just lost
one of your friends,
your officer,
that moment's a life-changer.
It'll be a life-changer in every
officer in my department.
A Toyota Prius was reported stolen
from a residence,
so police began to search for that
vehicle as well as the suspects.
O&P is behind the vehicle,
northbound from the 206.
The news coming into work that morning
had stated that the Bluffton officer
was killed in the line of duty.
So when the radio call came in,
we had that knowledge.
Subjects inside the vehicle are to
be considered armed and dangerous.
Armed and dangerous.
It kind of takes your breath away.
We're all brothers.
We're all in this together.
877, he's going to be the next one
approaching you in the left lane.
I'm in the middle lane.
Try to grab this plate when he gets
past. That way we can verify.
- It's got to be him in the middle
- No, there, left lane.
No front plate.
Looked like one occupant.
Black male.
Didn't look like he had a shirt on.
54, 71, 76, I'll be standing by.
They are not in pursuit or anything yet.
They're trying to get other units
involved in the area.
Attention all units, 99 traffic,
99 traffic channel two.
We wanted to make sure
that we got that person into custody
and got justice
for Officer Dominic Francis.
That's good.
We got three troopers, myself,
one more following close behind.
Looks like we might be getting
on 271 north.
Disregard 271. He's going to
continue 71 northbound.
130, I'll be 41 with him.
The 220 over six.
154, do you want me to call it?
Once you get a little bit closer,
we'll go ahead and let you call it.
Right now at 21.8.
- Yeah, about 110.
- That's their sign.
They're wanting to get cars up
on the interstate to deploy spikes,
and they're gonna hold off
on trying to initiate a stop
until we had enough vehicles
to end it quickly.
He can't run anywhere.
If we're gonna pit him,
we can pit him into the wall.
As we were getting into position,
the suspect had already been spooked.
217 over six is lit up.
He's taking off.
503, be advised. Go ahead.
Exit 226 northbound, 755 down to 75.
31, watch your speed.
He's swerving in and out of traffic.
Clear, is another unit available
to have stops sticks
at the exit ramp at 303?
When I got on to 71 northbound
entrance ramp from 303,
I was getting ready to deploy
my stop sticks.
Left lane, 116 miles per hour, 224.
We've got too much traffic
to try to box it in here.
Being asked to deploy the stop sticks
in the same nature
that Officer Dominic Francis was
There's a lot of emotions
that come into that.
Some of it is fear. That you don't
wanna get struck as well.
We're heading northbound
by the rest area right now.
Northbound.
Traffic's heavy. I don't know if I
can get across in time.
They're set up, but I got to cross.
With all the traffic
and the speeds they were going,
there's no way
I'm gonna safely deploy them.
32 was unable, unable to deploy.
That's a negative
I could see the suspect vehicle
was going in and out of traffic.
It was very reckless.
There was at least 15 units in pursuit.
Everybody was gonna pursue this vehicle.
In striking
and killing Officer Dominic Francis.
If you get a clear sight, clear road,
and even at 70 range,
that's when you got to pit.
I could see the suspect
and the highway patrol,
so I had a feeling that
they're gonna initiate a PIT maneuver
and get this thing stopped,
but with the amount of traffic,
you had to wait for the right moment.
Copy.
He's got traffic around him.
What do you think, boss?
No blocks, pit when you can.
Lot of traffic though.
The suspect speeds
were now at 110 miles per hour.
When you're chasing somebody
at those speeds,
one false move, it's game over.
He's there in the left lane.
Hang on, hang on.
We got a PIT maneuver at the 227.
Trooper car was crashed.
Trooper car was crashed.
- You all right?
- Yeah, I'm good.
The suspect kept going
just like nothing happened.
The more units you have on a pursuit
does give a greater possibility
that there are going to be crashes
that occur along that pursuit route.
The idea, though, is to have units
that are ahead as well
to kind of block off traffic
for a safety buffer,
for the normal motorists
that may be out on the roadway
and driving down the street,
not knowing that there is a whole
slew of police officers
that are coming out to chase somebody.
Seeing the trooper's car off
to the side of the road,
one of my concerns was that he was okay.
We're done. 877 is out.
1012 is out with the trooper.
He's okay. He's off the road.
1517, 1307 are out. Let's just get
this whole roadway closed.
I was thinking, this guy seems to
know what he's doing,
and he's gonna do everything he can
to get away.
Take him out. Take him out!
Northbound. I made contact with him,
but I missed him.
Don't pit, don't pit, not around traffic.
You got a shot. Take it.
Too fast, too fast, too fast.
When he bypassed the spikes,
it was very frustrating.
Approaching 82, approaching 82 right now.
Approaching 82, northbound.
Let them know what lane,
we got sticks set up.
The Strongsville Police had
closed the road with stop sticks
just ahead of us.
I think there's going to be some
spikes on this far left lane.
Just be aware.
I had a feeling that, okay,
this thing is done right now,
We have enough troopers
with the Strongsville Police,
he's gonna have nowhere to go.
Be careful.
The berm, he's on the berm.
Left lane, we're cutting back
across to the right.
He's been carried away by the turnpike.
We're going to be able to pit him.
What lane?
He's on the right berm, right berm,
approaching the turnpike.
Coming back over now.
Left-hand lane, left-hand lane.
Left-hand lane right here,
right in front of me.
Take him out!
When he made the U-turn,
he went southbound,
he went across four lanes of
interstate to hit the exit ramp
and did not even look.
Boundary road is shut down.
Back southbound, back southbound,
back southbound.
He was not gonna get caught.
He was taking that as a win,
and at that point I thought,
"Oh, here we go."
We were not gonna give up on this pursuit
until we either ran out of gas
or the wheels fell off.
It was something
that we needed to get done,
so we can bring justice
to Officer Dominic Francis.
Exiting off of 82, exiting off 82,
southbound 82.
I think he was just in desperation
trying to get away,
so that he didn't have to answer
for he was a part of
when he was in the vehicle
that killed Officer Francis.
Pulling off of 82 right now, 82.
There's some traffic here.
Going westbound 82, westbound 82.
147, units out to 82.
This area is highly congested
to go through at these speeds.
The risk of something horrible
happening is very high.
What I fear the most is if somebody
got hurt, it would be devastating.
I was already on route 57,
so when the call came out
saying that they're close.
They had covered a great amount of
distance in a short period of time,
I knew that they were gonna be
in our city pretty quick.
Your adrenaline's just going
when you're in pursuit of a person
who could have been responsible
for the death of Officer Francis.
He's not gonna get away.
I believe it's myself and OSP Grant.
Speeds are picking back up
to about 80, 90.
When you're at those speeds
in that amount of traffic,
it was the most on edge that I was.
If he would have crashed
or struck somebody,
there would have been a fatal accident.
We're on 82 going west approaching 42.
82 going west, 73 miles an hour,
heavy traffic.
I just cringed.
Every intersection we're approaching.
Up on 42, we'll be going now.
Which way are we going here guys?
- It's going 82 here, sir.
- Keep west of 42.
On 82, permission to continue
pursuit. Heavy traffic on 82.
You need to continue the pursuit
until aviation gets there.
Any opportunity to pit,
you need to take it.
Up 82 passing Plum Creek right now.
Speed's slowing down
up in the center here.
Lot of traffic,
he's going to be slowing down.
Separate individual, separate
individual. Right into the ditch.
Jesus Christ.
A black car was off the side of the
road. It was a mom and a kid.
Apparently, he had struck them
and pushed them into the ditch.
He was doing that on purpose,
just trying to get us to say,
it's too much liability.
It would have been more liability
to let him go.
On 20, w e're on 20 right now
going east. 20 east.
20 east, coming into the area now,
heading to construction zone.
Once we're past the traffic barrels,
we seize the moment.
Come on, ♪♪♪wreck this dude, man.
Wreck him.
Are we on 20?
Northbound 57 from Chestnut.
We're on 20.
The suspect's driving style
was very aggressive and dangerous.
He was able to turn in to the PIT maneuver
and able just to drive out of it.
That's like something
that I've never seen before.
On 83.
We were in awe.
We were also just thinking
"How is this gonna end?"
We would have to do
more than just a PIT maneuver
to get him to stop.
PIT maneuver. He was able
to get out of it, still northbound.
One occupant in the vehicle, black male.
Eighty-three.
It seems he had been chased
by the police before
because he knew just what to do.
Check now 100, northbound
in the southbound lane.
57 north and southside.
1721 is out.
That road goes head on with people
coming on a blind curve
which further increased the danger.
We're going 100. One hundred.
We're just praying that they're not
gonna cause a head-on collision.
Your respiration is up,
your heart beat is up,
what you're waiting for
is for him to make a mistake.
Got him stopped, 57, 57.
07 was involved in a crash.
07 involved in a crash.
He did a U-turn right there
in the southbound lanes
and opened himself up,
and I took advantage of that.
Got him stopped, 57, 57.
07 was evolved in a crash.
Hands up now!
130 Medina, felony stop in progress.
- You guys got a shield?
- Yeah, I got a shield in the back.
Pop the trunk, I've got a shield.
We still don't know what are
the intentions of the suspect.
We don't know if he's armed.
31, at gunpoint right now.
We're getting him out, at gunpoint.
Reach over!
Over to the passenger door!
Open up the passenger door!
- Thirty-nine.
- Slide over.
Keep your hands up.
Put your ass in the passenger seat.
Move slow! Open the door!
Keep your hands up! Move slow!
Hey, Cruz, tell them to watch
their crossfire on the other side.
He's exiting the vehicle.
Leave the door open!
Exiting the vehicle.
- Don't move.
- Hands up!
Come on!
231, we're at gunpoint right now.
We're getting him out.
Put your hands on top of your head!
Lie down on your stomach! Do it now!
I got the car.
I got the car, I got the car.
There was still one outstanding
suspect that we knew of.
He could very well been
in the back of that vehicle.
You have the right to remain silent.
Anything you say can
This is clear. I don't know what
the back looks like.
Yeah, back's clear. Car's clear!
Hands behind your back.
Hands behind your back.
When he was finally put in cuffs,
you get a sigh of relief
and it's like a chance
where you can breathe again
and catch your breath.
All city units, they have one in
custody at 816, one in custody.
103 you're clear.
Chases like this definitely add stress,
and depending on the amount of incidents
an officer's been involved
in close proximity,
it can really have an effect on them.
We're going to need a crash report,
but you'd be proud of old Unit 2 here.
When they made the flip back
to go north on 57,
I just crossed over and T-boned him,
sent him over the embankment.
It's quite remarkable.
The damage is very minimal.
We got some diggers out here.
This pursuit was the craziest pursuit
I've been on in my career.
We have never had a pursuit of this scale.
I was relieved that we got justice
for Officer Dominic Francis.
That's how you pit him.
Long chase huh?
Hey, Lieutenant, that's how you pit him.
The maneuver I did was right there
at the edge of the envelope.
Things that you're recommended
not to do, had to be done.
Bad guys in custody.
Excellent job, Sarge.
When we found out
nobody else was in there,
I was kind of worried that there was
still somebody else loose.
You want an EMS?
If somebody's injured,
EMS is on their way now.
The emotion I felt when I found out
that we had three suspects captured,
a sense of relief
knowing that I could breathe,
it was still so overwhelming.
But it was a relief
that nobody else was injured.
How does it affect the mental health?
I don't know, it's sad that another
officer lost his life for no reason.
I apologize.
Officials from the Ohio State
Highway Patrol say
20-year-old Emin Johnson of Euclid,
21-year-old Zachary Love of Columbus
are being held in the Hancock County Jail.
Johnson was charged
with involuntary manslaughter,
and Love is facing the charge of
failure to comply with an officer
and receiving stolen property.
The third person, 19-year-old Dante Tate,
was arrested in Elyria
on Thursday afternoon.
"Officer, protector, firefighter,
teacher, husband, father."
These are just some of the countless
words that people say
to describe who fallen
Officer Dominic Francis was.
Those impacted by his actions as
well as his sworn brothers -
came together to pay respects
as he's laid to rest.
His last act was heroic,
but that is not what made him a hero.
The impact of losing Dom
There's still not a day that don't go
by that I don't think about him.
I truly miss the time that I had with him.
The moments. Our discussions.
And I'm never gonna get that back.
Neither will the rest of my staff.
We have a lot of memories,
and he left one huge legacy
that's never gonna be forgotten.
- Control.
- This is 24.
My understanding that an order
has already arrived with you.
- Is that affirmative?
- Hold on, I'll say the call sign.
369, can you send another copy?
He's gonna take that one.
You know, it was just a normal Thursday.
At that point in the morning,
I did not know what was gonna happen.
Because it could have been,
it could have been over that day.
The computer in my car alerted.
I looked at the call
and saw it said confirmed hold up.
The information we were given
was the suspects were leaving
in a black Honda Accord.
They were basically coming
right towards me.
Cap, I'm at Farrow and Clemson.
I'll try to catch up.
I've just made a left.
I think I see it.
When I heard the emergency tone,
my ears peeked up.
A bank robbery
is one of the most serious calls.
Not only would it carry penalties
within the state, but federally.
I wanted to be the one
to get behind the suspect.
I was within a minute and a half
to two minutes of making contact.
Clemson approaching Farrow.
As I got closer, it was a black
Honda Accord with a 45-day tag.
It's a bank robbery suspect,
they just robbed a bank.
They all are armed.
Okay, this is gonna be "chase them
till the wheels fall off."
Central 631, I'm behind
a dark in color Honda Accord.
It's a temporary tag ABF auto sales.
He's turning into Longwood.
Negative, he's turning left
onto Heathergreen.
Yeah, correction, right onto Heathergreen.
I began getting into a hunt mode.
We had our prey,
all we had to do is get them to stop.
That's one of the reasons I got into
law enforcement as well was--
I mean, got into it to drive fast.
Stop, we're making a right
in Corison Loop.
Corison Loop is lined with houses,
both sides,
every street off of Heathergreen
Drive ends up in a cul-de-sac.
So, obviously, I know that
and it's either gonna be them
running on foot or a shootout.
I had my seatbelt off,
my left hand was on the door handle,
my weapon was out of my holster.
We were both locked in on the vehicle.
I'm not only going after subjects,
I'm keeping an eye on my deputy.
And I'm gonna do
whatever I could to keep him safe.
Passing Caymus Court.
Making a left at the dead end.
I caught my mirror
and that's the first time
during this whole incident
that I knew somebody else with
the Sheriff's Department was with me.
I've known MacAdams
since before he was a deputy sheriff.
He's always been a very steadfast officer.
He's got the fighting spirit.
Correction, making a left.
Correct, making a left.
Something pulled me.
Don't know what it was.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
I saw windshield fragments go everywhere.
I had no idea how many times
my car was actually hit.
Shots fired! Shots fired!
I was able to hold the driver's door
open with my foot
and fully get down in my driver's seat.
I did feel the rounds hitting my car,
I could hear them still impacting
MacAdams' vehicle as well.
I don't necessarily remember feeling
any, being scared, being frightened.
It was more, "What do I need to do to
make sure I make it out of this?"
Shots fired! Shots fired!
Time slowed down.
My goal was, at that point,
to try and draw the fire
and keep it from MacAdams.
I was able to draw my weapon,
and I leveled up on one of
the passengers getting out
And I fired through my windshield.
I struck him twice in the leg.
I'm yelling to MacAdams
to make sure he's all right.
Cover my side! Cover my side!
Tactical gear. Rifle, rifle.
We have three subjects at large.
MacAdams and I were only two deputies.
We had residents that had been home
starting to exit,
so containing the scene at that point
became the chief priority.
Once my mind caught up
to what had just happened,
it just felt like
I was gonna throw up everywhere.
Definitely was weak.
And I ended up trying to catch my
breath and calm down.
I remember asking if I could call my mom.
I just needed to talk to her.
As MacAdams and I
are returning back to our cars,
there's a bystander coming down the road
beeping the horn and saying,
"They fled, they fled,
they were in another vehicle."
Hey, partner, we just got flagged
down on the scene.
They're alleging they got into
another dark in color Honda Accord.
I knew everybody was coming.
Once you put out "shots fired"
over the radio,
everybody in the county's coming.
I remember talking with Captain Duke
and saying
how I wanted to go after them again
and that I should have been
the one chasing them the second time
because they just shot at us.
And just the definite mentality
of you just did that to me,
now I'm really going to get you.
You're not going to outrun me.
And Captain Duke said, no, besides
the fact that it's a crime scene,
he was like, "Ryan, they flattened
all four of your tires."
I was like, I can ride on rims.
I'll chase them down on rims.
After a few minutes,
I heard Deputy Kopenhaver
was directly behind the vehicle.
Bank robberies don't happen everyday
in Richland County or Columbia area.
They had been involved in a gunfight.
I can't think of anything more dangerous
than somebody's gonna shoot it out
with the police.
We weren't gonna give up
till they were apprehended.
I'm up opposite the church.
Their speed was anywhere from
probably 85 to 100 miles an hour.
Those roads are not designed
for that kind of speed.
There's very little shoulder.
I figured the longer we let this go,
the more chances for a bad outcome.
All right, just passed the church
northbound Wilson.
Region 3, be advised
the vehicle is now passing.
Now into oncoming traffic.
He's run oncoming traffic off the
road, still northbound on Wilson.
A mom in her minivan, I believe
she had her children in the minivan,
was coming southbound.
This takes us to a different level.
All right Max, scratch it.
If I get a clean shot,
he's going in the ditch.
At that moment, I thought for sure
when he came around that semi truck
and I saw a van coming out,
I said, this is where it ends
and it's gonna end in a traffic
collision, and it's going to be bad.
If something happened to me,
I knew the ramifications
when I signed my name on the line
to be a sheriff's deputy.
That mom and her kids didn't.
This is gonna be one
of those scenarios like,
you know, we're just gonna bang him
in the ditch.
We're going to terminate this pursuit
as quickly as possible
because he was not concerned
about anybody else's safety.
I was even questioning
if he was concerned about his own.
The adrenaline factor
and the risk factor in this scenario
was probably the highest that I've
seen in my 25-year career.
I'm gonna send him to you on his mobile.
He forced me into the back end of him.
At that point it was like,
"Okay, all bets are off."
All right, I hit him once.
Stand by for a second shot.
They're moving fast.
They're moving fast.
Maxwell, get out.
Get out the way, Maxwell.
And I kind of shot him off
the side of the road,
and he hit a street sign and came back on.
By this point, his hood had popped up.
I was basically had a front row seat
to a catastrophe.
Still moving.
His hood is blocking his vision.
Still northbound on Wilson.
The fact that they showed total
disregard for anybody else's safety,
that was maybe one of three times
in my 25-year career,
where I actually got angry at a suspect.
Kop, when you hit him, stay down.
They were expecting
a second gun battle to ensue.
He was driving completely blind.
His hood's up, he can't see.
My thought was, "We're gonna bring
this to a conclusion.
One form or another,
right here and now."
Pit him, Kop, now!
Clip him!
Two of the suspects flee out
the back passenger door,
into the trailer park.
The driver's still in the car.
Myself and Brad Maxwell,
took him out of the car at gunpoint
and placed him in handcuffs safely.
We had the other two in custody
in probably about 45 seconds.
When I searched the car
after we had all three in custody,
we found close to $10,000
in U.S. currency
that was stolen from the bank.
There was a MAC-11 and two handguns.
My car had been hit multiple times,
but the reality of everything,
of how quick it could have gone
a different way,
I guess the reality of that set in
when I looked at Captain Duke's car
and there was a bullet hole
in like just about dead center
of his driver's seat headrest.
It definitely put things into perspective.
At the time, my son was only 9 months old
and realizing how close I'd come
to that line,
and it's assumed in our duty
that that's a possibility,
but whenever you're faced with it
really, it's a different sense,
especially that you know you came
that close, but you made it.
Later in the evening, after we got
released from headquarters,
my mom came over to the house.
I don't remember us saying anything.
She was just focused on being a mom
and worrying about me.
My name is Dawn MacAdams,
Ryan MacAdams is my son.
I saw a call come in from Ryan,
and I just let it go to voicemail.
Hey, Mom, before you see it
on the news, I'm okay.
Captain said I could call and tell
you that at least for now. Bye.
The following days,
I didn't really sleep that much.
It would play over in my head
over and over.
He coded on the way to the hospital.
They were
I realized that he really
was not coping well.
I could see it
in the way he was becoming detached.
I absolutely think
Ryan's life changed that day.
One of my first nights back,
I started stopping cars again.
And there was one that I was stopping
them for speeding.
I remember I turned the lights on
and, immediately, they stopped.
So, without thinking
I had my gun out of my holster
pointed at the car,
and was getting out of my car with my
gun pointed at the driver's door.
And then I sat there.
I was like, "What am I doing?"
Best way to describe it
would be post-traumatic stress.
So, at that point I figured
I should probably look into that.
I'm extremely proud of the way
MacAdams handled himself.
He showed that admitting this
didn't hinder your ability
to be a law enforcement officer.
People need to feel more comfortable
about their mental health.
It's okay to not be okay.
And it's okay to ask for help.
Words can't describe
how proud I am of him.
I'm definitely in a better place.
Iyuno