High Speed Chase (2023) s02e07 Episode Script

1
It's like an 80,000-pound lead missile.
Check. He's taking off.
Lord help me!
Oh, my god. He almost hit a car!
Counterflowing on 59.
You're going the wrong way
down the street.
I was thinking this was about to be
a very, very bad day.
Go, go, stay right on his path.
Struck vehicles.
Can DPS shoot this guy's tires out?
Because this is getting bad.
Sam, he's coming.
He's going to get stuck.
Okay, here we go.
The fun's about to start.
10-32, traffic disinformation,
he is armed.
I was not going to let this guy get away.
Face down!
Montgomery County 911, what is
the location of your emergency?
I'm passing a planora exit right now
and there's like a truck driver,
and he's like swerving in and out of lanes
and it is like, front of his truck
is like wobbly
and it looks like it's unhitched.
Oh, my God.
At about 1.45 p.m.,
dispatch started receiving phone calls
of a truck driving erratically.
59 South crossing Caney Creek right now,
it's a reckless semi-truck driver,
he's running people off the road.
It's very concerning to the general public
how that truck is on the road
and wobbling that way.
You're talking about an 18-wheeler
that could be 80,000 pounds.
I'm going to locate a white 18-wheeler
in and out of lanes,
southbound, exiting 242.
I don't know what wires he's with,
the truck is wobbly.
I happened to look up and see
a white 18-wheeler driving south.
In the cabin,
it was rocking back and forth.
- 3904.
- 39-04, go ahead.
I'll show you.
I just saw that 18-wheeler pass.
It looks a little dangerous.
I'm gonna try and get back up to it.
Okay.
I was already behind the curve
trying to get him.
So I was going in speeds of excess
of over 100 miles an hour.
About how fast are you going?
Right now?
Oh, god, he's running off the road.
Okay, a cop's behind you now.
A cop is caught.
3004, I think.
We just had 1314. I've got
a Dodge Ram truck in front of him
that tried to slide down.
He's trying to pass the traffic.
He's been slowing down,
and I can see the brake lights.
He's just not stopping.
Highway 59 runs north and south
through Texas,
one of the busiest travel roadways
in Houston.
And Houston has over seven million people.
So on a Saturday,
there are going to be
a lot of people out on the roadway.
There's a white 18-wheeler that's,
I don't know what's wrong with it.
- Okay, are you on 59?
- Yes, I'm on 59.
- Okay, are you--?
- Oh, god. Oh, my goodness.
It went across the--
Okay, we do have another call in,
so we do have people and officer
on the way over there, okay?
Okay.
So as I catch up to the 18-wheeler,
my first thought is that
there must be something
mechanically wrong with the vehicle,
or maybe it's a medical condition
that he's having.
Try now
So I try to get up next to him
so he can see
that we're trying to get him to stop.
Give us updates.
Try to even get a bit ahead of him
to help also clear the roadway.
Oh, no
That's when we realize
he's not going to stop.
- Clear.
- And then it turns into a pursuit.
- 34, come in. 21 in the pursuit.
- 21, that's a terminate.
I'm in line with him now.
I'm just going to go set it up now.
I've been in pursuits
with many vehicles over my career.
This being the first one
with an 18-wheeler,
it's definitely not
a good situation to be in.
21, we're still southbound past 1960.
Clear
Trying to stop this 18-wheeler is
like a bullfighter trying to fight a bull.
They're going against each other,
and the 18-wheeler's going to win
if we were to collide.
This truck is all over the roadway.
This is a major safety factor.
As chief of police, I'm never really off.
If something happens,
I need to be able to make a decision,
and I need to brief myself
on what's going on.
23, 22, go ahead and notify Houston.
I'll repeat it.
Clear.
More agencies involved means
more forward thinking for you
of where this person's going.
By the time I caught up,
I was unit number three or four
inside of the pursuit.
I heard someone mention
the driver was taking the North Park exit,
which I was on North Park Drive
at that time,
so I began to stage in that intersection.
21, be advised,
humble units are in pursuit with us.
Clear.
I wasn't able to intercept
towards the front
like I originally was planning on.
That stuff happens all the time.
It's just you can't really gauge
the way a suspect's driving,
and sometimes they'll go right
when you think they'll go left,
or sometimes they'll stop and
you don't think they'll to stop.
Apollo, what's your record?
Speed's at 76.
This is interesting.
Get ready, Arco. I don't know
what's going to happen, buddy.
I was thinking this was about to be
a very, very bad day.
21, still southbound,
number four lane check.
- He's taking a 100.
- Speed, he's coming through.
My fear was that he was going
to plow into these cars
and kill multiple people.
We'll have three lanes closed
ahead of us. That's coming up now.
Traffic's starting to come to a stop.
2322, we're approaching
the west lane exit.
Traffic is at a stop.
It's kind of like
this giant bowling ball
going down a lane
and getting ready to hit the pins.
Of course, my adrenaline's high.
My senses are focused on the truck.
Traffic, 231, is he slowing down?
Maybe he's coming to his senses
and he'll stop. I hope.
2322, he's turning around
to counter-flow down
the exit ramp, or the on-ramp.
Truly, the unthinkable happened.
This driver of this 18-wheeler
tractor-trailer-drawn semi
does a complete 180 degree turn.
Counter-flowing on 59 southbound.
I just sat back and started saying
a prayer in the back of my mind.
You are going the wrong way.
We were obviously passing
a lot of bystanders.
They probably couldn't believe
what they were seeing either.
If I was them, I probably would've
pulled my phone out too.
Hey, 420, where are they at?
Trucker-trailer-trailer-stop.
2322, he's getting back on the main lane
to counter-flow on the main lane.
There was no way to warn
the motorist ahead of time.
I couldn't get around the truck.
I just had this pit in my stomach
like, this is not going to end well.
Oh, my god, he's exiting
where people are turning up.
Oh, my goodness, get onto the car.
Get onto the car.
My heart was racing.
I was scared for the people's lives,
scared for my life.
Give me the channel.
Traffic is increasing.
It's so mad. He's in there.
I don't know if he's drunk,
high, or what. He is--
Oh, my goodness.
That driver is going to kill somebody
If he were to have a head-on collision,
it would definitely be a fatality.
No way anybody would survive that.
- Speed.
- Speedway Tracing, we're at 70 now.
I was just involved in a car accident
as a result of that 18-wheeler.
Oh, my god, it was actually surreal.
It was like a movie.
The guy was on the wrong side
of the highway.
Hurling towards us
on the wrong side of the highway.
It's on 59.
I just keep thinking to myself,
there must be a serious reason
he's trying to get away.
We ran it through dispatch at that time.
It did not come back as a stolen vehicle.
What has he done that's so bad?
We got her blowing up the 527 Spur.
He's headed into a heavily congested area,
the medical center at Houston.
- Is that him?
- Yeah, that's him.
Go, go, go!
Got to stay right on his ass!
Wait, that's him up there.
Big 18-wheeler. You can't miss it.
I couldn't even imagine what's in his head
about how he's going to get away.
Maybe he's trying to buy some time
for something.
Medium traffic. Speed's about 60.
Every minute we're on the roadway is
a potential fatality in the works.
And I'm really limited in my options
of getting this truck stopped.
The only option I have is
to throw out some spike strips
to flatten his tires.
Let me pass you so I can get in front
- and spike him.
- Go, go, go.
In a normal pursuit,
we can take PIT maneuvers
and try to get them to stop.
On a big 18-wheeler,
I don't believe it can be done.
Watch those four apart.
Barricading the road
could have little effect.
They could just plow right through.
You know, their tires are
a little bit different.
But the spikes should be effective.
Southbound through Richmond.
At this point,
just try to keep up with the vehicle
and hopefully tame the situation
the best we can.
Now he starts heading
towards the museum district.
we're approaching
I had my two sons with me in my car.
I see out of my peripheral vision
an 18-wheeler,
which is not normal for that area.
As he was barreling towards the fountain,
I thought that his brakes had gone out.
My immediate reaction was
Oh, my God. What's happening?
Struck vehicles at Montrose and Main.
Clear, struck vehicles
at Montrose and Main.
I can see him in the driver's seat.
He seems fine. He's turning,
but obviously he's not fine
because he's running into and over cars.
I kind of just went into shock.
If I wouldn't have seen him,
100% he would have hit us.
There's no doubt in my mind.
Struck vehicles at Montrose and Main.
As I'm driving by,
I'm just praying that nobody's hurt.
I know he's not going to stop now.
- Taking Main Street.
- Clear, taking Main Street.
Rice University is right there.
You have college students,
you have doctors, you have patients
and all kinds of people
on this roadway we're traveling down.
Public safety became a priority
over the stop sticks.
23-20, we're crossing Sunset Boulevard.
He's counter-flowing over the median.
Crossing Sunset Boulevard.
My thought process at this point
in time is try to save lives.
Southwest on Main Street, speeds are 45.
I jump ahead of the truck
and I try to stop all the traffic
at the intersections.
I just want to make sure
he gets out of there
without hitting anybody else.
He surprised me once again.
He's counter-flowing on Main Street.
All I think when he jumps over
on the wrong side of the road
Clear
he's going to kill somebody.
- Eastbound on South Fraserwood.
- Clear.
Sometimes our tow truck drivers,
they hear our radio.
He's going eastbound on South Fraserwood.
They try to block intersections for us.
Approaching Almeida.
- 17.
- You don't see this everyday.
I remember going up as a kid watching
The World's Wildest Police Chases
and seeing 18-wheelers
being chased on there.
I never thought
it would happen in my career.
This guy's driving like crazy.
You're actually talking
to multiple officers
to get ahead of that vehicle,
predict where they're going
and then deploy the stop sticks
at the right time.
We got spikes at Chimney Rock,
you just watch out.
Number one and number two lanes.
I'm thinking, we're finally going
to get this guy stopped.
He jumped on the HOV lane,
the Katy Freeway tollway.
But Katy Freeway is so wide,
it's really hard to tell
the actions of the driver.
I don't know if that was
a good flight yet or not.
I hear the CWU down ahead at Elbert.
Stand back.
Looks like he's going over to Elbert now.
This is going to be huge for us
if we can get this deployed right.
Take out main lane.
Back on main lane.
Back on the main lane.
I don't think those were good spikes.
Searching first.
I was very disappointed
that it wasn't able to make that hit.
Take out main lane.
Back on main lane.
Back on main lane.
I'm thinking, man,
how long is this going to go on?
He could take that
all the way outside of the state.
One thing about police officers
no need to worry about us
giving up on you.
- All right.
- Searching on
We're now a multi-jurisdictional
county-wide pursuit.
That has stretched over
several counties now.
We were probably 10-plus cars
back at this point in time.
If other agencies are involved,
we try to allow them
to take the primary lead.
We're in someone else's county now,
and they're helping us.
I just remember looking out,
and it's nothing but a sea of red
and blue lights behind this ATV.
It was truly a phenomenon.
There were so many cops.
There's a lot of people filming
and posting it on social media,
speculating on what's happening.
It must be someone illegal in there.
Oh, my goodness.
We were thinking that too,
why else would someone run unless
they're doing something illegal?
Is he carrying weapons?
Is he carrying people
in the back of the truck?
Spike attempt.
After a successful strike,
that they're flat
within a mile is what we're hoping.
It usually takes an 18-wheeler
a bit longer to deflate the tires
because they have more air in them.
Speed line, yes. No front left tire.
How about the truck itself?
There are no front left tires.
Okay, finally, we're making headway.
But just one tire being deflated
did not stop this guy.
This chase is now in its second hour,
and the longer this chase goes on,
the more likely
somebody's going to get hurt.
We need to start looking at other options.
Can DPS shoot this guy's tires out
or something?
This is getting bad.
The Texas Department
of Public Safety troopers,
some of them have the training
on how to shoot out tires
and have that authorization
where most other agencies don't.
It's like an 80,000-pound lead missile
putting all these lives in danger.
When you put someone's life
in danger, including the officers,
then officers have a right
to legally use force,
including deadly force.
Kroger's parking lot,
Kroger's parking lot.
I see that there's no front tires.
He's running on his rims.
Tear it open.
And so this is a good advantage for us.
There's also the chance
he may turn his wheel
and end up jack-knifing
or flipping the truck over.
Somebody texted me
and said DPS shot the tires out.
What?
How is it going now?
He had no tires on him, except
the rear tires on the trailer.
His front tires were gone.
- He's literally riding on the rim.
- He's riding on the rim.
His tires were all over the road.
They just spiked him again.
He's got lost another tire.
Somebody's gushing oil.
Once the tires are flattened,
that lowers the truck engine
to the level of the ground,
which caused the oil pan to drag
and eventually just tear off,
then all the oil drained from the engine.
I know now it's a matter of minutes
before he finally comes to a stop.
Looks like we might be
stopping felony stop.
Okay, yes, don't rush. Felony stop.
- We're going stop.
- Okay, clear.
Is there going to be a shoot-out?
Is he going to start shooting
at the police?
I worry about the public being around.
Get him out! Get him out!
There's still a danger.
Getting the truck stopped
was the first part.
Getting the driver out without
anybody getting hurt is the second.
- We're fine. We're fine.
- Watch out!
We went up to assist the hands-on team
that was the arrest team.
21, we're taking him into custody.
Get him out, get him out.
We don't know if somebody's dead in here
or if he had someone at gunpoint
taken hostage.
Let go! Let go of your fucking hands.
We train to use our firearms
to have them in a low ready position
in case we are presented
with some type of deadly force.
- Are you guys clear?
- Clear.
- Clear.
- Clear.
K9-421, driver detained.
Truck's clear.
After one of the longest pursuits
I've ever been in my life,
a two and a half hour pursuit, 163 miles,
it finally comes to an end.
All I can feel is such relief
that nobody was seriously hurt
and it's finally over.
- Thank you.
- Truck's clear.
As I walk up to the front of the cab,
I'm able to get my first glance
at the driver.
Here's this tall male, long hair,
and he just seems to be nonchalant
He just seems to be out of it
like he doesn't even care.
We're able to locate his wallet,
and in there was his driver's license
indicating that he's 51 years old
and his name
was Christopher John Lubowski.
- Christopher
- Christopher
Lubowski. The big Lubowski.
We still don't even know
what's in the cargo or the trailer,
and so now we have
to kind of switch gears.
Okay. Anybody got a test kit?
This one's gonna be a 9mm.
What else is he carrying?
There could be hidden compartments
with drugs, money, and stuff like that.
So now we have to search the back
to see what else he's hauling.
Do y'all know if he was hauling anything?
We don't know yet.
We're going to open it up right now.
Thankfully, he wasn't hauling people.
We did see some car parts, and
it wasn't a heavily loaded trailer.
- Gunnery County Sheriff's Office.
- Hi, I got a semi-truck,
and ABC News
just called me a little bit ago
and asked me if it was my truck,
that was involved in a high-speed chase.
I tried to call my driver,
can't get a hold of him.
Twenty-four cop cars, helicopters.
- I said, oh, my God.
- Okay.
You can't imagine him
being involved in a chase.
He's like a nicest guy in the world.
It doesn't make sense.
We pull out a presumptive field test kit
where you put a bit of the product
into this kit,
and it will give you a certain color
to indicate what it is.
- Oh, look-y there.
- We got a boy?
- We got a boy.
- It's a boy.
He turns blue, the color indicator
for methamphetamines.
We end up having to drive him
all the way back to Roman Forest
and start the arrest process.
So, I'm going to read you your rights
that you have, okay?
You have the right to remain silent.
Once he's in custody
and the adrenaline kind of calms down
and kind of get back to our normal
rhythm of breathing and such
now the other thought process come in.
The main question I'll ask is,
why did you run today?
I'm in drugs.
There you go.
Okay. It's kind of
a strange response,
but that's all we could get out of him.
Face me. Come.
And I'm looking at this man going,
what was so important that you had
to jeopardize so many lives?
Would you want to give me
a sample of your breath?
Yeah.
We gave him a preliminary breath test
just to see if there was
any alcohol in his system,
and it showed there was
no alcohol in his system.
- Are we good?
- Yes, sir.
One of the most frustrating things
in law enforcement is
figuring out the why.
And because Mr. Lubowski
refused to talk to us,
we may never know the true reason why.
It's important to me
that we got the conviction.
His decisions that day was
very reckless and dangerous.
I've been in law enforcement for 29 years
and I have been in numerous pursuits,
but this one is one
that I will never forget.
When you run from law enforcement
in the state of Texas,
every law enforcement officer
gets involved
and we're going to catch you.
You know what they say,
"Everything in Texas is bigger."
That includes our pursuits.
Indian River County is a small town
on the Treasure Coast.
It used to be a really quiet town,
but we're rapidly growing.
We do get a lot of tourism
from a lot of the hotels beachside.
My name is Deputy Alec Munni.
I'm a deputy sheriff
with the Indian River County
Sheriff's Office
assigned to road patrol.
I enjoy coming to work every day
not knowing what's going to happen.
I can have an extremely busy day.
I can have a day filled with action.
A typical day working is conducting
patrols of neighborhoods,
conducting traffic enforcement,
as well as answering calls for service.
Whether it be a disturbance,
trespassing, fraud, car accidents.
A man accused of stabbing a Jupiter doctor
at a pediatric office.
He's facing several charges
including attempted murder.
The doctor's condition is unknown.
All sorts of things
were going through my head.
Who knows what could have happened.
Maybe he was on his way
to his next victim.
What's the current location on it?
Last I heard he was passing Orange.
He stabbed someone at a pediatric office.
I had to get to the county line
as quick as possible
to intercept him.
I just knew we had to get this guy.
Do you have any update
on where the car might be?
10-1 we're advising just south
of state road 60, still northbound.
I sat in the median at the county line.
There was a lot of traffic coming in.
My eyes were starting to strain
just trying to spot specifically
this white four-door Lexus.
When I saw the suspect vehicle
I made eye contact
with the suspect.
It felt like he knew
that I was there for him.
I just knew that
it was going to be a chase.
I have eyes on the vehicle,
about the 144 southbound,
approaching northbound.
I raised speed,
approaching the bureau exit.
Discovered, do you have visual on it?
Yeah, he punched it.
I'm trying to catch up to him.
Because he stepped on it,
I knew 100% this was the suspect.
- How high were your speeds?
- Over 120 miles an hour.
I remember telling myself,
don't get into tunnel vision.
Tunnel vision is when you're
just so focused on a target
that everything else around you is
just a blur.
It's like looking at something
through a straw.
I was extremely nervous
for the way he was driving.
The public was at risk.
Suspect is now on top of the lane.
I'm responding to the call,
and they've told me what he's done.
I start making my way towards 95
and setting up my gear,
especially my rifle,
ready to go if I need it,
on the passenger seat.
Come on. Get out of the way,
get out of the way.
It's nerve-racking when going there,
you try to keep calm,
and the motorists hold you back.
Approaching I-95.
So as I'm approaching I-95, I decide
to go on the oncoming traffic.
I'm ahead of you, let me know.
I'll make a U-turn.
I'll get in front of it,
do the road block, slow it down.
My logic was to drive on the shoulder
and be readily available
as it's coming to me.
The first line of officers
have been called in.
They were refueling at that one.
It took us about five minutes
to get airborne, which is quick.
This is probably one
of the more severe call-outs we had.
This suspect had just stabbed
a pediatrician.
We wanted to make sure
that we were going to catch this guy.
What's your mile marker?
My primary role as a tactical
flight deputy is being the navigator.
We're passing mile marker 149 northbound.
I am the ground unit's eye in the sky.
He's in the left lane,
over 120 miles an hour.
So as we're getting close to I-95,
I'm looking for the car
that is moving quicker
than the rest of the traffic.
All right guys, my radio now
is outside lane, I see the 151.
This guy thinks that he can outrun
the ground units,
but he was not going
to be able to outrun the helicopter.
I'm going for the rolling roadblock.
Okay.
The strategy
of the rolling roadblock would be
to basically box the vehicle in,
and then everybody simultaneously
starts to slow down in hopes
that the suspect doesn't want
to make contact
with the patrol vehicles
and comes to a stop.
He's coming up to the 155 now,
outside lane.
Right inside lane, inside lane,
still northbound.
Any minute he's going to be
right on top of me.
Then I spot the vehicle
in the outside lane
from my rear view mirror.
It's like, here we go,
I'm about to be involved in this.
The fun's about to start.
- He's right behind you.
- I got him.
It's approaching me, it's getting closer.
It's my time to do everything I can
to slow him down.
He just flew right by me.
I used my rear view mirror
and my side mirror
to stay in front of the car.
You see me kind of swerving.
That's when you see us trying
to box him in, but it's way too late.
That's when he gets around me.
All right, just past the exit,
stand by inside lane.
We're going to need sticks,
he's not going to stop.
Trying to have sticks at the 153.
We need to clear the bridge,
we're going to have stops
on the other side.
Public safety is our number one priority.
We need to get that suspect isolated
from the rest of the traffic
on the interstate.
Up ahead, the deputies are starting
to conduct our roadblock.
Stop!
And beyond the roadblock,
we can safely use stop sticks.
From 115
You cover
from what my sticks don't to back.
Passing the
Be ready for him
to go around our trucks, though.
You know what I'm saying?
Heads up, guys, traffic is slowing down.
We're in the middle of a lane,
outside lane now.
We're going to the left.
As we're doing the roadblock,
we don't want to put the citizens at risk.
We don't want this to become deadly,
so we try to give the suspect
some type of avenue of exit,
which was the shoulder.
He is just driving so fast,
weaving in and out,
that the concern becomes,
is he going to end up losing control
and hitting a stopped vehicle?
Continue past the bridge.
- See him? He's coming.
- He's going to the I-95.
We just tried to hit six.
He continues on the outside lane.
We were able to pull the stop sticks
in front of the vehicle.
I believe it was a successful hit
on the stop sticks.
He's in the middle lane.
No traffic ahead. It's clear ahead.
Now it's just wait and see what he does.
Back left tires out. It's gone.
That gives me the ability
to close the distance on him.
He's slowing down.
Coming up to the bend on the I-95.
Okay, coming up.
He is slowing down significantly.
158. Left lane.
I'm getting ahead. I'm getting ahead.
Trying to cut into the median.
He'll get stuck. He's in the water.
I thought he would be completely
disabled in the median
just from the amount of water.
Okay, this is the end.
There is no way his sedan
is going to be able to make it
out of that muddy, grassy ditch,
especially with a tire.
I remember his car kept inching,
inching, itching.
This is the perfect opportunity.
He's turning.
I'm able to attempt a PIT.
He made it.
He might make it through,
guys, if he can get across.
Southbound.
It was not successful, unfortunately.
The vehicle is coming apart
from the stop sticks
and the median it's taking
from the high speeds.
He's southbound on the outside shoulder
on I-95 southbound.
Another PIT. He's down the wire.
At that point, I just attempt another PI
to stop him from being able
to travel any further.
Another PIT.
Get in the car now!
Put your fucking hands up!
We're in pursuit of traffic.
Just information, he is armed.
Subject on the ground. Stand by.
They say he's possibly armed.
My main concern is to get behind cover
just in case he does have a knife
because he stabbed somebody.
But we don't know if he's got a firearm.
Having many officers there is
extremely important.
Can we get a unit on P.J.'s
passenger side with a long rifle?
Where's he at?
That way we have a takedown team.
We have a team keeping eyes on the car.
Hey, I got him over here.
Stand up! Hands up! Face away!
Take two steps to your left!
Left! Left! Left! Left!
If anybody has a shield,
bring your shield up. Whoever we got.
You don't know what he's going
to try to pull on you.
Is he going to fight?
What's his next plan? You never know.
Now back up to us, all right?
Go down on your knees.
Put your hands on top of your head.
Do you have one in custody or two?
- You got anything else?
- No, sir.
I'll keep doing this incident.
I'll tell him.
I got shield. Ready?
You get commands?
We're going to move up. Guys,
flip them so they stay together.
- Ready?
- Move up.
Hey, cover that back window.
Searching that vehicle, we're looking
for potential weapons, drugs,
or sometimes even other people.
Anybody else in the vehicle,
come out with your hands up!
Suitcase! Clear!
The risk to human life is now over.
No citizens got hurt,
the suspect didn't get hurt,
and no officers got hurt.
A man accused of stabbing
a Jupiter doctor is now in custody,
but he had lead earlier in the day
Indian River County deputies
on a high-speed chase.
It was all caught on camera.
95.
I had made a promise to myself that day
that I was not going
to let this guy get away.
One of the main reasons
I became a deputy was
to get these guys off the street.
If you plan on doing anything like this
and come into Indian River County,
you will get caught.