High Speed Chase (2023) s01e06 Episode Script

1
They are carrying one of the
deputies to Air 1 right now.
One of the deputies had been shot
twice in the stomach.
This guy's armed and dangerous.
It was a frantic situation.
He's in his truck,
he has a high powered rifle.
WHEN CAMERAS CAPTURE
A POLICE PURSUIT
Shots fired.
He's shooting out of his window.
II'm gonna exchange gunfire.
Deadly force is worth the risk
in this situation.
EVERY TURN CAN MEAN
LIFE OR DEATH
It looks like he's intentionally
trying to hit people there.
If we get a chance, I'm not gonna
let him hurt somebody out there.
Before that night,
I had never had to use my firearm.
We have Chopper Four
where Mason Dunn has been tracking
the movement going on around there.
- Mason, what do you see right now?
- This is Southwest 78 and Penn.
Two deputies have been shot
multiple times.
A SUSPECT HAS FIRED AT DEPUTIES
SERVING EVICTION NOTICE
Air One is landing in the street,
you never see this.
That's about all we know right now.
15 MINUTES EARLIER
Any information on the subject?
Is he still there, inside or out?
He's in his truck,
he has a high powered rifle.
Sarge and John have both been shot.
I'll never forget that day.
Serving eviction papers,
it's just one of our requirements.
Well, evictions are customarily done,
just one person.
This day they chose,
"Hey, let's go as a group."
We do all kinds of court orders.
Summonses, subpoenas,
giving protection orders,
evictions, warrants.
If it's signed by a judge, it's our
responsibility to get that served.
Unfortunately,
we deal with a lot of people
on the worst day of their lives.
And we see some of
the worst sides of society.
It just It's inherent in the job.
SGT. PRICE IS OVERSEEING
A TRAINING COURSE
WHEN THE CALL COMES IN
And the deputy said,
"Are you listening to the radio?
Bobby, Mark and Melody, it's bad.
It's real. it's bad."
And then on the radio
you hear Deputy Melody Norton.
It's almost like her feeling just
went right through the radio waves.
I'm going into the backyard.
He left, he left in his truck.
Westbound on 70 whatever street we're on.
Westbound on 78th street in a truck.
I immediately grabbed my radio,
and I run and jump in my truck.
I could see the two officers
laying in the backyard.
They are carrying one of the
deputies to Air One right now.
They're gonna fly them to the hospital.
One of the deputies has been shot
twice in the stomach.
I could tell that they,
it was a frantic situation.
They were shot by somebody who has
left the scene in a Dodge truck.
This guy's armed and dangerous.
I knew it was critical.
THE SUSPECT VEHICLE HAS BEEN
SEEN HEADING TOWARDS I-25
What's he driving?
A green Dodge Dakota, an older model
with a boat, towing it on a trailer.
I've probably made it to I-35
within a minute.
I thought I would try and block his path.
What's your 20 now behind the suspect?
Coming up on I 35.
- On 89th?
- Yeah, 10-4.
The suspect has a bag
of guns and ammunition,
in the back of the boat.
It kinda puzzles you for a minute.
What is the boat's purpose?
Is it just purely accidental,
or are we worried about this in any way?
Witnesses say that he had a gun
in the car with him. So he's armed.
Pursuits happen in our county
all of the time.
But when you find out that
you have deputies that have been shot,
the severity goes up.
We're really dealing
with a dangerous individual.
This guy's prepared for a gunfight
wherever he goes.
All right, we're southbound on
Polaris from 89, doing about 15.
He stops, I don't know why he stopped.
If it turns into a vehicle barricade,
we do have a BearCat on the way.
Going around here.
What's going through your mind is,
you know, possible scenarios
that can happen.
Is he gonna go on foot and try to run
through the neighborhood?
Is he gonna try to scare us away
by shooting at every car he sees?
There were about six patrol cars
in front of me.
He'd already shot two deputies.
And when it's a situation like that,
we don't take any chances.
I start to pull out my rifle,
open the door,
got one foot on the cement
and he started taking off again.
They're westbound in a business park,
I don't know what the name of it is.
It's a big gray and tan building.
He has the means, and has shown
the ability to be violent.
Stop the truck now! Stop now!
We needed to stop this
before he got on the Interstate.
There the chances of a civilian
getting injured increase.
I'm three back,
and I think I can TVI that boat,
push it out of the way if we need to.
Hey, give us some room.
He's slamming on his brakes.
What is he trying to do?
What is he trying to accomplish now?
One of the police officers attempts a TVI,
which is Tactical Vehicle Intervention.
That boat is hard to TVI.
He's ramming us.
Hey back off a little bit,
back off a little bit.
Northbound I-35.
Once he gets on the Interstate,
you can get up to speeds
well over 100 miles an hour.
And as speed increases,
the danger increases.
There's a little bit of traffic,
but they're yielding to us.
You guys back there can make a wall,
to stop that traffic behind us.
We're blocking on ramps and off ramps
so we can be mindful of the public
not to get them involved.
When I saw a chance to go around,
I decided that I would just go
as fast as I could,
try to get up far enough ahead
to block the exits of I-35.
I could see him approaching,
and as he approached
I heard two loud thumps.
33, shots fired.
He's shooting out of his window.
This is as dangerous
as it gets in a pursuit.
He was shooting at me.
He could've killed somebody else.
If he comes northbound
do you want us to drop back?
Mason Dunn reporting live for us.
We do know two Oklahoma County
deputies have been shot.
We have two deputies
that are hurt pretty badly,
that were sent to the hospital.
One may be in a critical condition.
It put me through
an emotional roller coaster.
You know your deputies have been shot
and you still don't know the status,
but you know they've been shot.
And you're angry.
And then, you're worried, you know.
How are my guys doing?
Who else is he gonna put in danger?
And this is all going on while you're
operating your vehicle at high speed.
That is a lot of emotion.
Shots fired again, shots fired.
He's still shooting.
I'm talking on the air, trying to
stay calm and tell the story,
let people know where this guy is
going, to stay away.
I'm thinking in the back of my mind,
he's already harmed two officers.
They want him off the street,
not let him hurt anybody else.
They weren't messing around.
We have to apprehend this individual.
Hey, all these units passing us.
Back up! Do not pass us.
Ranger 114.
If anybody's on the westbound side,
when we get a clearing, take him out
with a shot, it's the best option.
Deadly force is reasonable
in this situation.
If he comes this way,
I'm gonna exchange gunfire with him.
We've seen what he's capable of.
This is worth the risk.
ARMED OFFICERS TAKE UP
POSITION AHEAD OF THE SUSPEC
Still northbound. He's moved to the
outside lane just north of 25th.
Everybody back off
except for that first car.
Even as reckless, as chaotic,
crazy as this particular incident was,
it was still the mindset
of everyone involved
to protect our community.
As he was going north on I-35,
I could see officers parked
on the side of the highway,
leaning over their hoods with their
rifles, and shooting at the truck.
You could see the glass flying.
This officer had gotten
out of his vehicle,
on the median of the roadway.
Understanding his backdrop
was nothing that would put
our other public in harm's way.
And to get off shots as he was driving by.
I haven't seen that before,
where an officer was firing at a
truck going down the highway.
Not in Oklahoma.
Just lost something on the boat.
I think a wheel just came off.
If we didn't get him stopped,
multiple officers, civilians
could've been killed.
He's pushed over to the inside lane.
Still northbound.
He had already shot deputies.
He packed more ammo, he packed more guns.
There's no rules
in this style of engagement.
PURSUING OFFICERS PREPARE
TO OPEN FIRE AGAIN
Officers and deputies were trying to
shoot at him while they're driving.
We were talking on the radio,
where we're at, speeds.
Understanding his backdrop was nothing
that would put our other public
in harms way.
Let me slide around you, I've got a rifle.
Driver switched over to the inside
lane. Still northbound.
I could take him out,
if some of you back off.
Shots fired. I think I hit him.
Looks like he's about to lose control.
And you could see the boat wiggling
back there, going left and right.
I was wondering how this was gonna end.
He's gonna do 40. I-40 eastbound.
There's construction here for a mile
and a half. It's gonna get tight.
Once he got to construction area,
it made him have to slow down,
which allowed officers
to get closer to him.
He's running into cones on purpose.
He started running over cones,
driving back and forth,
just trying to keep them at bay
as much as possible.
I'm just staying back, we've got way
too much traffic right now.
He was trying to cause distractions,
put things in the way.
Trying to create a means of escape.
He was just mowing over those
like they weren't even there.
Once we have helicopters in the air
covering it from above,
there's no way to escape the pursuit.
All right, he's taking the exit ramp.
THE ARMED SUSPECTS
MAKES A SUDDEN EXI
TOWARDS AN AIR FORCE BASE
When he headed
towards Tinker Air Force Base,
that just kinda put
a little exclamation point on it.
Now, you've got a whole nother situation
that's even more serious
if he makes it through the gate.
I got on the radio with the tower
and told them
in case he gets past the barricade.
This ends in a gun fight.
Tell them to git, tell them to git!
Move everybody! Get everybody out!
If this is our opportunity to get in
and take him down,
we need to do it quick.
He put the gun out the window
to where officers could see it.
With everything we've seen
throughout this entire incident,
from start, to the pursuit
and the shots he's fired at deputies,
the shots he's fired at police.
You're wondering, what is this?
- Hey, hey, hey.
- Stop! Stop! Bro stop! Stop!
- Hands behind your back!
- I can't.
Get on your side. Get on your
stomach. Get on your stomach!
- Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
- Put your hands behind your back.
When the pursuit came to an end that way,
there's a little relief.
This part of it's over.
Nobody else got hurt.
Police chasing suspect vehicle
in deputy shooting
So now we got him into custody,
now that portion is over.
And it comes back to,
I gotta go check on my guys.
BOTH DEPUTIES ARE TREATED
AT THE HOSPITAL
FOR GUNSHOT WOUNDS
AT AROUND 3:50 PM
SERGEANT BOBBY SWARTZ
PASSES AWA
Deputies are here at the hospital,
and just praying for the families.
Law enforcement, it's a tight community.
I'm so thankful they were screaming
across the state for my guys.
THE SUSPECT IS CHARGED
WITH FIRST DEGREE MURDER
AND SHOOTING
WITH INTENT TO KILL
HE IS LATER DEEMED INCOMPETEN
TO STAND TRIAL
OKLAHOMA COUNTY
DEPUTY KILLED,
SECOND INJURED IN SHOOTING
As you can see,
the long line of police cars
with the motorcycles out front.
It bothers me.
It bothered me then, it bothers me now.
I just wish that I had been there,
'cause maybe something
would've gone differently.
'Cause I would've laid
my life down for him.
And if I could change places
with him today, I would.
Bobby is a huge loss to me.
Our agency is very unique,
because we're such a family group.
And so those relationships, those
bonds are set and they're vibrant.
And to lose a vibrant part
of your community,
it hurts in a way you can't explain.
Bobby had a huge impact on our agency.
He will never be forgotten,
I will never forget Bobby Swartz.
Coweta County 911, Operator 17.
Where is your emergency?
I'm at a truck stop,
kind of behind the BP station.
I just seen people kind of walking
back behind my truck,
and I think they're trying to break
into these trucks and load stuff up.
And there is a U Haul truck that is
riding around the parking lot,
and I think they're with them.
It's a full sized U Haul,
one of the bigger ones.
An officer is coming to meet with you.
When I got the call,
the location I was at was just a few
miles north of the actual truck stop.
It's not a unusual call,
but any call can take a turn
for the worse.
I've seen two of them on foot.
They're still on scene potentially?
Yes, ma'am.
When I arrived on location,
I turned my camera on.
The other deputy was Deputy Luken Brown.
Hey, what y'all doing?
Hey, come here.
177 north. They're taking off.
Hey, come here! Get out of the truck!
10-80 with this U Haul box truck,
they're coming out the back.
At this point the pursuit begins.
The tag is
Immediately after the suspect
left the truck stop, he turned out
10-50, 10-50.
causing a head on collision.
We need somebody to check on
that vehicle he hit head on at,
from the pilot.
It looks like he's intentionally
trying to hit people there.
Innocent motors had to actually go
into the ditch to avoid being struck.
My immediate reaction was,
that this isn't good.
The occupants of the vehicle
could be injured.
I immediately had another deputy
who was behind us,
go check on them.
The offender intentionally striking
the motorist's vehicle head-on,
was absolutely an escalation
of this incident
and told me that he was willing
to hurt other people, to get away.
It made you have a moment
of a helpless feeling.
Of knowing that you had a duty
to stop him.
If the suspect had just stayed
and taken responsibility,
charges would been entering an auto
which is a felony.
Certainly not as severe
as assaulting somebody
with a motor vehicle.
Once he fled, now we're at,
you know, adding fleeing charges.
Once he hit the motor vehicle,
now we're adding felony fleeing,
felony aggravated assault.
THE U-HAUL IS NOW FACING
ONCOMING TRAFFIC
Coming up on 29. Still south on 27.
The suspect takes off south on highway 29.
The offender was driving in a way
that clearly had no regard
for the safety of anyone else
on the roadway.
At this point, the suspect definitely
had the advantage on us,
from the aspect of, we had no way
at this time to effectively stop him.
They're gonna hit somebody
head on here in just a second.
Our biggest concern is
the safety of innocent people.
They don't know what's coming.
Just tried to ram a car head on.
In a situation like this,
I absolutely need to control
the physical emotions,
to be able to concentrate
on bringing this to a safe end.
Officer advising, he's got no lights
on and he's coming southbound.
It's gonna be two males
and advise that he's driving
in the wrong lane of traffic.
1-36, be advised,
he's driving real reckless,
so he might try to come at you
if he sees you.
If the vehicle, like the one the
offender was driving,
were to strike a regular automobile
it would be catastrophic.
The two suspects don't wanna be in cuffs,
they don't wanna be arrested or face
the consequences for their actions.
This driver was desperate.
6 MILES AWAY
I heard about the call
from our in car police radio.
The initial reaction from having
the info of a U Haul truck fleeing,
is the sheer size of it.
And trying to process
how we're going to safely
and effectively stop this pursuit.
John and I, we've worked together
for a long time.
We're actually good friends,
and he's a very good police officer.
He's one of the best that,
you know, there is.
Coming up on the interstate now.
He's going to try and make a turn.
We're going north.
The offender getting on
the interstate, changes things.
Pursuing along a two lane road,
is different than on an interstate.
You've got a lot more motors.
Speeds are about 80, still southbound.
At that moment, it became more
challenging to to stop the subject.
SGT. THOMPSON
AND GRANTVILLE PD UNITS
CATCH UP WITH THE PURSUI
Units, this is 10-0. We got so many
cops out here, don't hit each other.
We had a large number of police
vehicles involved in the pursuit.
Trucks in the center lane, advise
Grantville to get out of the way.
Oh, he just tried to hit Grantville.
The suspect was escalating the situation.
Still trying to do whatever
he could to make us back off.
- We're not able to PIT this one.
- Negative.
The U-Haul van was two to three times
heavier than a normal automobile.
But if we try to PIT maneuver
on this vehicle,
it could force one of us off the roadway.
Stand down.
All right, Grantville is ahead 143.
I don't know if they've got sticks
out but we'll give them room.
So, now we need to end this pursuit,
via stop sticks.
I'm clear.
We'll get him at the 40 or the 38.
10-4. Let's try to see
if we can get him.
One of our deputy's had stop sticks
ready to be deployed
at a certain mile marker,
north of our location.
Tell Grantville they need to back up.
They're gonna get spike stripped
if they stay that close.
That's 10-4.
That's him.
59, give us a mark.
Be advised, he's intentionally
trying to hit law enforcement.
Try and get him on the car.
Get in the car!
Get in the car, get in the car!
- Did you hit him?
- Negative hit.
78, turn your blue lights off
so he doesn't see you.
I was definitely very concerned
for the people on the roadway,
and my fellow deputies.
The offender came very close
to a fuel tanker.
Striking a fuel tanker at 80 mph,
would've been catastrophic.
We are now coming under the exit ramp.
We knew that we needed
to get the offender stopped,
prior to the Bullsboro exit
which is at the 47 mile marker.
Mainly due to the large amount of traffic
that is known to be at this intersection.
We knew that this was going to up
the possibility
of a citizen being
seriously injured or killed.
59, see if you can speed up
and get way ahead
and set up sticks again.
174, I'm in the wall with stop sticks.
I'm gonna need time to know
where he is so I can get it across.
All right 174, we're coming up over
the hill for 39.
Everybody back up.
He's going from lane to lane,
so, we're at the 39 northbound,
coming up over the hill.
SECOND STOP STICK UNI
Center lane is where we've got him.
Negative hit! Negative hit!
DISTANCE TO INTERCHAGE: 3 MILES
At this moment,
we're really running out of options.
He's still in the center lane.
Weaving back and forth.
I am concerned, the closer we get
to that major interchange.
DISTANCE TO INTERCHANGE:
2 MILES
We have tried every option
that we possibly could,
to bring this to a safe end.
And it was evident
that the driver was gonna continue.
If we get a chance,
I'm not gonna let him hurt somebody
out there.
We were about a mile away
from the Bullsboro exit.
This intersection's very busy
with a lot of motorists.
Based on the offender's driving,
it was clear that he had no regard
for anyone else on the roadways.
The entire situation
had potential to seriously injure
or kill multiple people that evening.
We're running out of time.
10-4, 46 North,
we have motorists pulling over.
He's trying to hit them as well.
7-69 is behind you.
I'm trying to get permission from
C.O. to shoot the tires out.
If that's an option for y'all?
Shooting out the tires,
wouldn't have guaranteed a stop,
and we were getting too close
to additional traffic
coming onto the interstate.
Okay, all units, go to the right.
Go to the right side of him.
I'm gonna try to go
to the left side of him.
At that moment, of course,
it's a heavy decision to make.
Be advised we're at deadly force
in this situation guys, so
I've worked for Coweta County
for 16 years.
Before that night,
I had never had to use my firearm.
We're almost catching up a bit.
All units, go out to the scene,
go out to the scene.
Shots fired! Shots fired!
Shots fired, I think I got a hit.
He did not slow down.
Then I made the decision
to pull up next to him
and fire three more rounds.
We're gaining speed at him.
We're on top of the bridge.
He's stopping.
Units be ready.
It looks like he's coming to a stop.
Right lane.
You got visual over there?
I think I got him.
The driver, I think I got the driver.
I probably shot about six or seven times.
- John, are you good?
- I'm good.
- He didn't shoot. I shot.
- No. I'm clear on that.
He's probably hit.
Having two suspects within the vehicle,
and we're going
to try to call the offenders out,
rather than us rushing
upon the cab of the vehicle.
If you've got a shield bring it up.
You don't know if they have
a violent past, if they're armed.
- Hands up! Hands up! Hands up!
- Hands out the window.
- Somebody else has got to take this.
- John, do you need a minute?
Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.
The reason I had another officer
take over the commands,
is because I felt the adrenalin
I was experiencing may have
hindered any further decisions.
And I didn't wanna be involved
in any further use of force.
He's yelling something.
You had them all!
- Door, door, door!
- Hands, hands, hands!
You better get out!
- Show me your hands!
- One voice. One voice.
Come out with your hands up.
Do it now!
- Come out. Do it now!
- Don't shoot.
Nobody's gonna shoot you.
Get out here now.
On me. I'm on point.
- On three. On three.
- We're moving up.
- Hey, we're gonna have to approach.
- Yeah, we are.
Listen up. You're listening to me.
This voice right here.
- I'm with you, man.
- Hey, listen.
Keep your hands right there
and crawl out of the truck.
Now get your butt out. Let's go!
Crawl over the wall.
Listen to me, crawl over the wall.
The wall, crawl over the wall.
Let's go! Crawl over the wall.
You stay with me.
Crawl over the wall. Let's go.
Crawl over the wall.
Put your hands where we can see them.
When you touch down,
put your hands in the air.
- You understand?
- Yes, sir.
Keep them up. Let's go.
Do me a favor. Face away from us.
Face away from us.
Now back up!
Keep coming, right here to my voice.
Back up!
Get down on your knees. Do it now.
Get down on your knees. Do it now.
Spread your feet.
- Put your arms out. Palms out.
- I know.
- All right, hold it.
- We had two teams.
So once we had the passenger
out of the vehicle,
we had one focusing on the driver's
side of the U-Haul.
Driver, with your left hand,
open the door from the outside
and slowly exit the vehicle
with your hands visible.
From my position, we couldn't see
what the driver was doing.
You in the cab, put your hands up!
- I got two hands, two hands.
- All right, go. Go.
- He's shot.
- He's been shot?
The driver's shot.
He said the driver's shot.
He says he's shot in the back.
We might have to get him out.
So now the priorities are to get
the driver medical attention.
We were determined
to do everything we could,
so nobody died that night.
But, until they're in handcuffs,
this scene's not over.
Unbuckle your seatbelt, do it now.
Unbuckle your seatbelt,
with your right hand!
I can help you
if you unbuckle your seatbelt.
Push that seatbelt.
That's it, there you go, good.
- Make sure you get to pick her.
- Is that good a bit?
Take it from the other side.
Let Chance do his, do his work.
I did see the driver was not able to walk,
so I knew he had significant injuries.
The transition from, you know,
stopping this pursuit
to rendering aid, is quick.
We got an ambulance coming.
I never want that to happen to anybody.
But his actions, you know, caused this.
I approached Lieutenant Curtis.
- I had no choice.
- You need to calm down.
- You know, you did the right thing.
- I had no choice.
It was important that I let him know
that I was available,
if he needed something from a friend.
But also, on the professional side,
so that he could just take a moment.
After everything was done,
medical aid was rendered.
I remember turning my camera off
at the end.
THE TWO SUSPECTS ARE TAKEN
TO THE HOSPITAL
Innocent drivers were forced off the road,
a head on crash
in a shooting involving a deputy.
Now two people are facing charges
for all of the chaos.
It all started when the Coweta
County Sheriff's Office says
At the end of the day,
the passenger sustained no injuries.
However, the driver,
he did sustain serious injuries
to include paralyzation.
THE PASSENGER IS CHARGED
WITH ENTERING AN AUTOMOILE
WITH THE INTENT TO COMMIT THEF
THE DRIVER IS CHARGED
WITH FLEEING
OR ATTEMPTING TO ELUDE POLICE
AND AGGRAVATED ASSAUL
THEY AWAIT TRIAL
Since that situation, I haven't had
any what if's in my mind.
The only thing that I thought about
is we had let this go,
I really think
he would've killed somebody.
It makes you realize
how dangerous pursuits can be,
and how desperate some are to get away.
That they're willing
to hurt other people to do it.
THE GEORGIA BUREAU
OF INVESTOGATION FOUND
OFFICER CURTIS' USE OF FIREARM
A LAWFUL AC
I'm proud of the other deputies on shift,
and how they handled themselves.
As for me, nobody ever wants to use
deadly force as a police officer.
But, when we have to, you know,
when we have no other choice,
we're, we're trained to do that.
Iyuno