High Speed Chase (2023) s02e09 Episode Script
This Is Going To Hurt
1
He is all over the road.
Your heart starts pounding a bit.
Wasn't sure
what we were about to get into.
He's trying to ram me.
My hand went immediately to my weapon.
I was getting ready for the ambush.
We're off in the woods now.
Her know exactly where I'm at,
and if he has a gun on him,
I'm an easy target.
- 36 south, 150 miles an hour.
- It sounded like a train coming by.
I've never seen a vehicle
without tires go that fast.
- Take him out if you can.
- He was able to regain control.
He came back towards my vehicle,
like, "Man, this is going to hurt."
Evening dispatch, this is Henry, McIntosh.
I've got a 10-80 that's getting close
to your county line on the Southbound 95.
It was 3:20 in the morning.
We got a call that there was a chase
coming into our county from McIntosh.
- Okay, where are they at right now?
- 38 south.
I'm about to lose
some of my deputies' radios.
They had attempted
to stop the vehicle for speeding,
and he refused to pull over
and just continued south,
and then they fell in and gave chase.
- What kind of vehicle are they in?
- ID is a black Nissan Maxima.
We do not have a tag for it.
Okay, how many officers do you have on it?
I've got one, two, three,
four, five, six units.
36 south, 150 miles an hour.
Myself, Deputy Reed, our lieutenant
and the sergeant on shift
was in the patrol building.
We left to go and position ourselves
to help.
- They're at 145 miles an hour.
- Jesus, woohoo.
When you first get notified of a call
like that,
it's just a massive adrenaline dump
at one time,
especially when you go from simple
as simple as doing a report
to now you're about to be
in a 150 mile an hour car chase.
What lane are you gonna be in
with stop sticks?
We had a deputy at 22-mile marker.
Captain, I won't make sticks at this time.
He was trying to set up spike strips,
but the vehicle was coming so fast
he didn't have time
to actually set them up.
With that vehicle going that fast,
he was not able to catch up.
Units be advised, we are 10-80.
We are 95 southbound passing the 20.
He's at 140 plus. All lanes
of travel, all lanes of travel.
All lanes of travel. Fast lane now.
Lieutenant Douglas sent Deputy Reed
and I to Billyville overpath
to set up our spike strips.
I want them, you know,
on opposite sides of the roadway,
so that there would be no way for
the suspect to miss the stop sticks.
48-87 we're blacked out.
We're directly under the Billyville
overpath with spikes.
87, I'm standing by to intercept at 17.
We had another patrol deputy
sitting at about the 17-mile marker.
87, I need you to call it because
McIntosh isn't on our channel.
34 Camden, taking over as primary.
He joined the pursuit.
All clear, taking over 34,
go ahead and call it.
The vehicle passed him still doing
somewhere around 150 miles an hour.
When a pursuit is going 150 miles an hour,
it just puts a lot of people
in danger, not just that suspect,
but the deputies and the innocent
people that are on the road.
The risk for a person
going that fast is deadly.
Coming up to the 14.
One on the bridge at this time,
middle lane.
The suspect could have got off at exit 14,
but with them being behind him he was
traveling too fast to make that exit.
From exit 14 until you get
to exit seven, there are no exits.
You got 7 miles between the two of them
that you have to get them stopped.
Get ready at Billyville, I haven't
quite caught up to him yet.
We got out and took out our spike strips.
We made sure that we were ready.
We talked to each other.
Is this him right here?
Throwing spike strips is probably
the most dangerous thing you can do
in law enforcement.
They see you,
they can either swerve to strike you
or they can swerve to avoid you,
which could cause them lose control
and ultimately hit you anyway.
That's him right there.
We both got a good spike on the vehicle.
The vehicle came by us really quick.
Get in and go! Get in and go!
That's a good feeling, because
you're like, "Okay, we got him.
We got all four tires.
Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
Yeah.
He hit the spikes.
I've spiked a few cars in my time.
Positive spike.
I've never spiked one that fast.
When you hit him it made a loud noise.
Being 10 feet away from the vehicle
whenever it came by going that fast.
I mean, that's a that's
an adrenaline rush right there.
He ♪♪♪♪♪those spikes up.
That car was hauling ass.
Corporal Thigpen got in the chase
immediately at that point.
It was very important for us
to get up there, to get it stopped.
He was doing 150.
That put distance in between us.
I got up to 130 miles an hour
to try to close the gap.
124 miles an hour, coming up the 11th.
He's losing his rubber.
It was surprising to hear that he
was still maintaining that speed.
Normally, once a vehicle is spiked
and they're on the rims,
then they slow down.
Report, he's coming back as a
missing and endangered person.
10-4.
After that tag, they get a missing
and endangered alert.
At this point, we're thinking, you know,
"Is the guy or person that's missing
or endangered the one driving,
or is somebody else driving?"
It's weird. Why are you running
if you're missing endangered?
Most people are running for felonies,
not because they're, they're missing.
Stand by for foot bail. He is all
over the road. He's on rims.
34 Camden, we've slowed to 55 miles
an hour, right lane at the eighth.
As the vehicle is slowing down,
at that point you're planning,
is he gonna try to foot bail?
Is this gonna turn into something worse?
Back up to 84 miles an hour,
still right lane, coming up to exit seven.
I can see sparks off the rims
on the roadway behind me.
When he got to the back
of my vehicle, I could hear him.
Debris flying everywhere
from this car. 110 miles an hour.
It sounded like a train.
And then he just went on by.
It's not how things are supposed to go.
Everything up until that point
was just textbook perfect,
until the vehicle started gaining speed.
That's not supposed to happen.
Y'all take him out if you can.
10-4, just trying to catch up to you.
Yeah, we're back at 140 miles an hour.
Passing on the shoulder, coming up
to the Crooked River bridge.
Coming up to exit six, right lane,
133 miles an hour.
I've never seen a vehicle
without tires go that fast.
What's going on? Who is this guy?
Why is he running
and what's inside that car?
This is not gonna be easy.
I need to close the gap, so I can
PIT before he injures anyone.
135 miles an hour.
God! I just hit Kingsland's spikes,
somebody else get up here.
I'm right behind you.
I'll stay with him as long as I can.
Coming up to exit three,
140 miles an hour.
I'm still trying to catch up.
Knowing that the primary ran over
spoke strips and he's dropping out,
I was the next closest
to be able to take lead.
Coming up to the 2, right lane,
120 miles an hour.
Get somebody up here to PIT him.
I'm trying,
I'm just not catching up to you.
Coming up on exit 1, right lane, 110.
The Georgia Florida state line
was coming up.
So for me I was like,
"I'm running out of room,
I'm running out of time to be able
to stop this vehicle
before he hurts anyone
or kills someone."
Once he gets to the state line,
we're going to call it off.
It took me 13 miles to catch up to him.
Yeah, we're back at 140 miles an hour.
I'll be taking the lead and I was like,
"Okay, this will be a good spot
for me to do the PIT maneuver."
Take him out.
All units back off a little bit.
I look, weighed my options.
I'm saying, "Okay, we're going this fast.
I need to do the PIT maneuver here."
He was able to regain control
and he came back towards my vehicle.
34 Camden. Vehicle roll, vehicle
on fire! County unit is on fire.
Come on
First deputy on scene immediately
goes to the suspect
to take the suspect in custody.
Get out the car!
Get out the car! Get out!
Get out! Get on the ground!
Get on the ground!
- Roll him over.
- Get on the deck.
I heard that there was a crash
and a county unit on fire.
Who the ♪♪♪is on fire?
Who the ♪♪♪is that?
My mind couldn't really process
everything that was going on.
It was so chaotic.
Who is that?
When I arrived
I observed what I thought
was Corporal Thigpen's vehicle
in two halves,
and one half being on fire,
where he should have been.
So I merely was thinking, you know,
Corporal Thigpen's gone.
Somebody's gonna have to tell his family
and, you know, that was probably
gonna have to be me.
It was loud. You could hear yelling.
There's deputies running all over.
You got the sirens going. You have
just papers falling from the sky.
Loose ammunition going off from the fire.
You have to quickly assess the situation.
Camden, we've got another
vehicle involved that is on fire.
It was another vehicle with flames
shooting out of it 20ft into the air.
You can't put that vehicle out,
not with fire extinguishers.
That other vehicle is fully involved.
- Who is that?
- I don't know.
I think that's a bystander.
That's a civilian. I don't know.
Goddamn it.
Corporal Thigpen performed a PIT maneuver
while the suspect was driving
on the shoulder.
The driver went from the shoulder
all the way to the median,
then turned back and struck the
side of Corporal Thigpen's Tahoe,
which caused him to flip
and he struck another vehicle,
which caused that other vehicle
to explode.
Who's this?
That's Thig.
Camden, 55 is trapped in his vehicle.
Vehicle roll over,
we have one vehicle fully engulfed.
Hey, Thig! Can you hear me, buddy?
Are you okay?
I saw someone coming.
I did not know who it was.
I didn't know what they intentions were.
Hey! Thig, Thig!
My first thought is
I have to protect myself.
Thig!
So I was going for my weapon
to protect myself.
Can you hear me, Thig?
Thig, can you hear me? Thig!
And then I realized that was Deputy Reed.
- Thig! Can you hear me, buddy?
- Yeah.
- Are you okay? Are you okay, Thig?
- No.
Thig, we've got fire department
en route buddy, okay?
We can't get Corporal Thigpen
out of the vehicle,
not without the fire department
getting there and cutting him out,
so you're just standing around
waiting on the fire department
and it's just a bad situation to be in.
You wanna help and you can't
really help anybody right there.
- Goddamn it, dude.
- Thig! Thig!
Take a deep breath, brother,
take a deep breath.
My legs. My legs.
- Your legs hurt?
- From my--
- You're not able to get out?
- From my hip down.
Are you able to get out?
I was trapped, I was helpless.
I wasn't able to do anything
but just be there and be helpless
and wait on everyone else.
There's all over the interstate.
The fire department are trying
to strategize
about how they wanted extricate
Corporal Thigpen from the vehicle.
Get the Sawzal!
They had to use a Sawzal to cut,
to actually fillet the roof to get me out.
Every single movement they did was pain,
pain down my leg, pain in my knee.
I heard a couple of familiar voices,
family.
The fire chief is a cousin,
then the other paramedic, a cousin.
They said,
"We're gonna move you out."
I need someone else right here.
Can you get underneath the arms?
Ready? One, two, three.
Stop, stop, stop. Hold up.
Right here underneath the arms.
What is it besides the shoulder?
What is it?
- It's your leg?
- Your hip? Your hip?
As long as I stopped him
from hurting someone else.
His concern was did we get the bad guy?
I think that goes back to military,
you know. The mission comes first.
And we're secondary.
I got it, I got it. We got you.
One of our deputies,
he ended up telling me
I ended up hitting another vehicle
and the impact that vehicle exploded.
The only thing that went through my
mind was, like, "I killed someone."
I would never be able to do this job again
because I've taken someone life.
I was trying to save a life
by stopping this person from hurting
or killing someone.
It was my vehicle that hit that vehicle.
That's the one they called
that was on fire.
- They said county vehicle is on fire.
- The Major said this one's on fire.
Maybe it was a 10-46?
- That would be great.
- That would be awesome.
We were looking through the vehicle
while they were putting fire out.
"Is there a body in there?"
"We don't see one."
It was determined that the driver
of the vehicle was actually arrested
by Kingsland police department
the day before for DUI,
so the vehicle was left on the side
of the road there.
The dispatcher told me that vehicle
was a 10-46
and what that means
is it's an abandoned vehicle.
I was so relieved that there was
no-one in the vehicle.
I know that I did not hurt
or kill anyone by trying to stop him.
That is the craziest shit.
I don't think nobody in there, thank God.
- Nobody's in here? Where they at?
- I think no.
I don't know,
but I'm glad they ain't in there.
Whenever we found out
that the bad guy was going to jail
and there no body,
nobody killed in the process,
I mean, it was
it was a weight taken off of us, for sure.
McIntosh deputies took the suspect
into custody
and he was placed in the back
of one of the deputy's cars
and transported back to McIntosh.
I was in the hospital for only three days,
and that's because I could not stand
being in a hospital.
I was pretty hopeful right whenever
he first got hurt that he'd be back.
I thought for sure he'd be back,
but then it was taken,
it was taking a while for him
to get cleared by his doctors.
I was out for almost a year.
I think I was able to do a week,
but we realized that there's an issue
with my back.
So the doctors looked at that,
and then they permanently
disqualified me from doing patrol.
I miss it. Every time I see
a patrol car or I see lights,
it makes me think how much
I loved doing it,
and how angry I am because somebody
else took it away from me.
Corporal Thigpen is a first responder
recruiter now,
he still works with the county.
I still see him
around the patrol building.
It's something I love doing, to keep
me still part of, of the family.
I may not be on the road,
but I can send
somebody that will be on the road
or in fire and rescue that can help.
Thinking back to that night,
I don't have any regrets.
I was able to stop him from hurting
or killing someone else.
This accident changed me in
I don't know how many different ways,
but the people see me and I'm smiling
or I'm laughing, or they're, like,
"You don't look
like you've been in an accident."
I'm like, "On the outside, no.
On the outside I'm still hurting."
I still may be broken,
but I'm smiling and I'm laughing
and I'm cheerful,
I try to pass that on
because I'm still here.
That night was kind of quiet.
We were leaving a call.
Deputy Dougherty had seen a vehicle pass
and put it over the radio,
asking did I see that vehicle?
Was it the one from the night before?
It's the stolen Dodge from last night?
The suspect was driving an older gray
model Dodge.
I noticed that it was the same truck
and I kind of locked eyes
with the guy inside,
and at that point I went ahead
and got behind the vehicle,
so that I could provide
the license plate to Dispatch.
Dispatch confirmed that it was a
stolen vehicle at that time.
My heart starts pounding a bit,
because you don't know
when you hit those red and blue lights
if that vehicle is gonna pull over
or if it's gonna punch it.
I was the second vehicle behind the truck.
There was a second where I thought
the suspect would pull over.
When he pulled out onto 20-25, it was on.
Where's it located?
San Jacinto County
is roughly 700 square miles,
about 75 percent of it's
wooded forest and it's very rural.
A lot of dirt roads
that kick up a lot of dust,
so it takes your visibility down
to almost zero at times.
32, speeds are 80 to 85.
It looks like we might be turning
onto 945.
FM945 runs from middle of nowhere
to the middle of nowhere.
I had no clue where the suspect was going.
We were following behind until
he either stopped or we stopped him.
Right lane, going northbound on 945.
Speeds at 45. Picking up.
The suspect was veering, lane to lane.
I tried to keep my spotlight on him,
which I'm not sure if that
was making him mad or not.
What I was thinking was
how crazy he was driving.
If another car was to come around
the corner,
and he wouldn't have had a reaction time,
it would have been a head-on collision.
Due to our policy, we're not allowed
to perform a PIT maneuver.
We basically have to just follow
behind the vehicle
and hope that he makes an error.
Coming up on Shell Oil, speeds at 63.
That speed hitting that dirt,
you almost lose control of your vehicle.
You do a fishtail, you kind of
hit your brakes a little bit,
trying to gain control.
Eastbound on Shell.
These small country roads are always
very isolating,
very spooky, very haunting.
You don't know what's lurking
behind anything.
It looks a lot worse in real life
than it does through that camera.
32, we've hit the pavement on Shell,
speeds upgraded to about 80.
Always wondering is somebody gonna
come and he'll end up T-boning them
or are we gonna make it through this,
okay?
Blew the stop sign at 1725.
Going on Fostoria.
32, we're still southbound
on Fostoria, speeds at 65.
I'll give you a landmark soon as I can.
During the pursuit, I did not have GPS.
I was extremely conscious
of where we were going
and not having a clue
if any other roads popped up,
because I was thinking about
if we were to leave the county
and go into another county.
I would have no clue where we were going.
I go balls to the wall, if I feel I
can drive and keep up and do it,
I don't pay attention
to what the screen says, I just go.
If you feel the car slip, then
your butt puckers up a little bit.
32, be advised he is all over the road.
We didn't know who the suspect was,
didn't know his name.
We just kind of had to go on a limb
of still thinking of what he's doing,
trying to figure out his next move.
32, we're passing Trails End.
Turning northbound on Trails End.
Right away, I knew this was gonna be
a big mistake.
There is several potholes in that area.
Usually, you don't get
over five miles per hour.
And in this case, we were moving.
Is my car gonna be able to handle
this road?
He's in an older model Dodge.
It sits a little bit higher,
got a little bit bigger tired,
so at that point he had the advantage.
32, I believe we just passed Hicks Loop.
32, 30, do you know what this is?
An access road?
I wasn't sure what was in the water,
if we were gonna hit a large rock or not,
but I figured I'm going for it
because he's going for it.
It almost felt like
I was gliding across it,
but at the same time
it took my visibility out.
I couldn't see a thing for a minute.
I saw the suspect hit the water.
I then saw Sergeant Cosme hit the water,
and I said,
"Yeah, screw it, I'm going too."
I did try to stop my vehicle and slow down
and realized it's not wanting to stop.
At the very last second,
my brakes kind of locked in
and I was able to make the turn
before I went off road.
Well, after that creek
and that first left turn,
all the roads run parallel basically,
so when we hit the next street he
made another left, and the next left.
I was kind of mad at that point that,
you know,
"Look, I'm still behind you. When are
you gonna give up?" You know?
"Now's the time, because you haven't
shaken me and I'm still coming."
When you're chasing,
you don't know who they are
or if they have weapons in the car.
You don't know if they killed
somebody or robbed a bank,
you just know that they
don't wanna stop for some reason
and you don't wanna let them get away.
Approaching 105.
Speeds are 40 to 45.
He was toying with us,
doing whatever he could
to just frustrate us even more.
He's trying to ram me.
Deputy Dougherty kind of swings
around the back
and kind of gets up next to the vehicle.
He's gonna try to get in front of him
and maybe box him in,
and we could slow him down.
The only options we had were either
to wait until he ran out of gas,
either he crashed or to call another
agency with stop sticks.
If a suspect is willing to crash
or run people off the road,
he has no regard for other people's lives.
32, he is into oncoming traffic.
Just FYI.
He's turning right on Duck Creek Road.
I feel like he was ready to end it.
I also feel he knew the subdivision
and could potentially hide from us.
There was heavy brush and trees,
but there was also
quite a few houses in that area,
so not knowing exactly where I was,
I wasn't sure
what we were about to get into.
He is now headed down service road 4203.
The back of someone's property.
My hand went immediately to my weapon,
I was getting ready for the ambush.
We're in somebody's yard.
Just straight up tearing up
their front yard.
I couldn't imagine what they would see,
a suspect vehicle followed
by at least four sand drag.
This is priceless.
He's heading into a field.
All of a sudden,
we're in the middle of the woods.
I figured this was not gonna be good,
because his vehicle's a little more
made for this than mine is.
He's probably about to stop here.
33, we're off in the woods now.
I didn't see he had a weapon on him
at the time,
so I opted to go with the less lethal
and try to end it right then and there.
I fired two rounds off at the suspect
with the pepper gun
and missed with both of them.
Oh, he ran this way.
The environment around me
was absolutely pitch black,
extreme brush, downed trees.
I can't see this guy and while
I'm poking around in the woods,
shining my flashlight this way and that,
he know exactly where I'm at
and if he has a gun on him,
I'm an easy target.
White male, bald headed.
Can we get a dog?
We were still kind of patrolling
the little perimeter
of where we thought maybe he would be.
I thought our chances were dwindling
I was pretty sure at that point
he might have gotten up
and kind of crept off
while we weren't there.
Yeah, he went right where
you're standing, Josh.
I knew it!
- I was right there.
- I knew it.
Lo and behold, they go to the trail
area where I was, and I kid you not,
a minute, minute and a half,
the guard goes, "There he is."
Roll over. Come on. Come on out.
Let me see that hand.
Great job, guys.
Great job, guys.
I kind of liked the fact
that I got to handcuff him.
- Put him in your car, Sarge?
- Oh, yeah. We're going to jail, son.
They made a lot of fun for saying that,
so that was the phrase around
the office for the longest time.
- What's your first name?
- B-R-A-D-Y.
We found out his name was Brady Lloyd
and he did have multiple gun charges.
- Mr. Lloyd?
- Yes, sir.
I'm gonna read you
these Miranda warnings, okay?
I already know them.
I do think he stayed off-road
more than on-road
for the fact that his truck was built
better than ours for it.
He knew he was giving us some hell.
The proudest thing
about that whole pursuit
was the fact that no-one was injured
and we got the guy.
What's made me most proud
was our determination, not giving up.
I think Mr. Lloyd learned not to mess
with Sam Jacinto County.
He is all over the road.
Your heart starts pounding a bit.
Wasn't sure
what we were about to get into.
He's trying to ram me.
My hand went immediately to my weapon.
I was getting ready for the ambush.
We're off in the woods now.
Her know exactly where I'm at,
and if he has a gun on him,
I'm an easy target.
- 36 south, 150 miles an hour.
- It sounded like a train coming by.
I've never seen a vehicle
without tires go that fast.
- Take him out if you can.
- He was able to regain control.
He came back towards my vehicle,
like, "Man, this is going to hurt."
Evening dispatch, this is Henry, McIntosh.
I've got a 10-80 that's getting close
to your county line on the Southbound 95.
It was 3:20 in the morning.
We got a call that there was a chase
coming into our county from McIntosh.
- Okay, where are they at right now?
- 38 south.
I'm about to lose
some of my deputies' radios.
They had attempted
to stop the vehicle for speeding,
and he refused to pull over
and just continued south,
and then they fell in and gave chase.
- What kind of vehicle are they in?
- ID is a black Nissan Maxima.
We do not have a tag for it.
Okay, how many officers do you have on it?
I've got one, two, three,
four, five, six units.
36 south, 150 miles an hour.
Myself, Deputy Reed, our lieutenant
and the sergeant on shift
was in the patrol building.
We left to go and position ourselves
to help.
- They're at 145 miles an hour.
- Jesus, woohoo.
When you first get notified of a call
like that,
it's just a massive adrenaline dump
at one time,
especially when you go from simple
as simple as doing a report
to now you're about to be
in a 150 mile an hour car chase.
What lane are you gonna be in
with stop sticks?
We had a deputy at 22-mile marker.
Captain, I won't make sticks at this time.
He was trying to set up spike strips,
but the vehicle was coming so fast
he didn't have time
to actually set them up.
With that vehicle going that fast,
he was not able to catch up.
Units be advised, we are 10-80.
We are 95 southbound passing the 20.
He's at 140 plus. All lanes
of travel, all lanes of travel.
All lanes of travel. Fast lane now.
Lieutenant Douglas sent Deputy Reed
and I to Billyville overpath
to set up our spike strips.
I want them, you know,
on opposite sides of the roadway,
so that there would be no way for
the suspect to miss the stop sticks.
48-87 we're blacked out.
We're directly under the Billyville
overpath with spikes.
87, I'm standing by to intercept at 17.
We had another patrol deputy
sitting at about the 17-mile marker.
87, I need you to call it because
McIntosh isn't on our channel.
34 Camden, taking over as primary.
He joined the pursuit.
All clear, taking over 34,
go ahead and call it.
The vehicle passed him still doing
somewhere around 150 miles an hour.
When a pursuit is going 150 miles an hour,
it just puts a lot of people
in danger, not just that suspect,
but the deputies and the innocent
people that are on the road.
The risk for a person
going that fast is deadly.
Coming up to the 14.
One on the bridge at this time,
middle lane.
The suspect could have got off at exit 14,
but with them being behind him he was
traveling too fast to make that exit.
From exit 14 until you get
to exit seven, there are no exits.
You got 7 miles between the two of them
that you have to get them stopped.
Get ready at Billyville, I haven't
quite caught up to him yet.
We got out and took out our spike strips.
We made sure that we were ready.
We talked to each other.
Is this him right here?
Throwing spike strips is probably
the most dangerous thing you can do
in law enforcement.
They see you,
they can either swerve to strike you
or they can swerve to avoid you,
which could cause them lose control
and ultimately hit you anyway.
That's him right there.
We both got a good spike on the vehicle.
The vehicle came by us really quick.
Get in and go! Get in and go!
That's a good feeling, because
you're like, "Okay, we got him.
We got all four tires.
Let's go, let's go, let's go!"
Yeah.
He hit the spikes.
I've spiked a few cars in my time.
Positive spike.
I've never spiked one that fast.
When you hit him it made a loud noise.
Being 10 feet away from the vehicle
whenever it came by going that fast.
I mean, that's a that's
an adrenaline rush right there.
He ♪♪♪♪♪those spikes up.
That car was hauling ass.
Corporal Thigpen got in the chase
immediately at that point.
It was very important for us
to get up there, to get it stopped.
He was doing 150.
That put distance in between us.
I got up to 130 miles an hour
to try to close the gap.
124 miles an hour, coming up the 11th.
He's losing his rubber.
It was surprising to hear that he
was still maintaining that speed.
Normally, once a vehicle is spiked
and they're on the rims,
then they slow down.
Report, he's coming back as a
missing and endangered person.
10-4.
After that tag, they get a missing
and endangered alert.
At this point, we're thinking, you know,
"Is the guy or person that's missing
or endangered the one driving,
or is somebody else driving?"
It's weird. Why are you running
if you're missing endangered?
Most people are running for felonies,
not because they're, they're missing.
Stand by for foot bail. He is all
over the road. He's on rims.
34 Camden, we've slowed to 55 miles
an hour, right lane at the eighth.
As the vehicle is slowing down,
at that point you're planning,
is he gonna try to foot bail?
Is this gonna turn into something worse?
Back up to 84 miles an hour,
still right lane, coming up to exit seven.
I can see sparks off the rims
on the roadway behind me.
When he got to the back
of my vehicle, I could hear him.
Debris flying everywhere
from this car. 110 miles an hour.
It sounded like a train.
And then he just went on by.
It's not how things are supposed to go.
Everything up until that point
was just textbook perfect,
until the vehicle started gaining speed.
That's not supposed to happen.
Y'all take him out if you can.
10-4, just trying to catch up to you.
Yeah, we're back at 140 miles an hour.
Passing on the shoulder, coming up
to the Crooked River bridge.
Coming up to exit six, right lane,
133 miles an hour.
I've never seen a vehicle
without tires go that fast.
What's going on? Who is this guy?
Why is he running
and what's inside that car?
This is not gonna be easy.
I need to close the gap, so I can
PIT before he injures anyone.
135 miles an hour.
God! I just hit Kingsland's spikes,
somebody else get up here.
I'm right behind you.
I'll stay with him as long as I can.
Coming up to exit three,
140 miles an hour.
I'm still trying to catch up.
Knowing that the primary ran over
spoke strips and he's dropping out,
I was the next closest
to be able to take lead.
Coming up to the 2, right lane,
120 miles an hour.
Get somebody up here to PIT him.
I'm trying,
I'm just not catching up to you.
Coming up on exit 1, right lane, 110.
The Georgia Florida state line
was coming up.
So for me I was like,
"I'm running out of room,
I'm running out of time to be able
to stop this vehicle
before he hurts anyone
or kills someone."
Once he gets to the state line,
we're going to call it off.
It took me 13 miles to catch up to him.
Yeah, we're back at 140 miles an hour.
I'll be taking the lead and I was like,
"Okay, this will be a good spot
for me to do the PIT maneuver."
Take him out.
All units back off a little bit.
I look, weighed my options.
I'm saying, "Okay, we're going this fast.
I need to do the PIT maneuver here."
He was able to regain control
and he came back towards my vehicle.
34 Camden. Vehicle roll, vehicle
on fire! County unit is on fire.
Come on
First deputy on scene immediately
goes to the suspect
to take the suspect in custody.
Get out the car!
Get out the car! Get out!
Get out! Get on the ground!
Get on the ground!
- Roll him over.
- Get on the deck.
I heard that there was a crash
and a county unit on fire.
Who the ♪♪♪is on fire?
Who the ♪♪♪is that?
My mind couldn't really process
everything that was going on.
It was so chaotic.
Who is that?
When I arrived
I observed what I thought
was Corporal Thigpen's vehicle
in two halves,
and one half being on fire,
where he should have been.
So I merely was thinking, you know,
Corporal Thigpen's gone.
Somebody's gonna have to tell his family
and, you know, that was probably
gonna have to be me.
It was loud. You could hear yelling.
There's deputies running all over.
You got the sirens going. You have
just papers falling from the sky.
Loose ammunition going off from the fire.
You have to quickly assess the situation.
Camden, we've got another
vehicle involved that is on fire.
It was another vehicle with flames
shooting out of it 20ft into the air.
You can't put that vehicle out,
not with fire extinguishers.
That other vehicle is fully involved.
- Who is that?
- I don't know.
I think that's a bystander.
That's a civilian. I don't know.
Goddamn it.
Corporal Thigpen performed a PIT maneuver
while the suspect was driving
on the shoulder.
The driver went from the shoulder
all the way to the median,
then turned back and struck the
side of Corporal Thigpen's Tahoe,
which caused him to flip
and he struck another vehicle,
which caused that other vehicle
to explode.
Who's this?
That's Thig.
Camden, 55 is trapped in his vehicle.
Vehicle roll over,
we have one vehicle fully engulfed.
Hey, Thig! Can you hear me, buddy?
Are you okay?
I saw someone coming.
I did not know who it was.
I didn't know what they intentions were.
Hey! Thig, Thig!
My first thought is
I have to protect myself.
Thig!
So I was going for my weapon
to protect myself.
Can you hear me, Thig?
Thig, can you hear me? Thig!
And then I realized that was Deputy Reed.
- Thig! Can you hear me, buddy?
- Yeah.
- Are you okay? Are you okay, Thig?
- No.
Thig, we've got fire department
en route buddy, okay?
We can't get Corporal Thigpen
out of the vehicle,
not without the fire department
getting there and cutting him out,
so you're just standing around
waiting on the fire department
and it's just a bad situation to be in.
You wanna help and you can't
really help anybody right there.
- Goddamn it, dude.
- Thig! Thig!
Take a deep breath, brother,
take a deep breath.
My legs. My legs.
- Your legs hurt?
- From my--
- You're not able to get out?
- From my hip down.
Are you able to get out?
I was trapped, I was helpless.
I wasn't able to do anything
but just be there and be helpless
and wait on everyone else.
There's all over the interstate.
The fire department are trying
to strategize
about how they wanted extricate
Corporal Thigpen from the vehicle.
Get the Sawzal!
They had to use a Sawzal to cut,
to actually fillet the roof to get me out.
Every single movement they did was pain,
pain down my leg, pain in my knee.
I heard a couple of familiar voices,
family.
The fire chief is a cousin,
then the other paramedic, a cousin.
They said,
"We're gonna move you out."
I need someone else right here.
Can you get underneath the arms?
Ready? One, two, three.
Stop, stop, stop. Hold up.
Right here underneath the arms.
What is it besides the shoulder?
What is it?
- It's your leg?
- Your hip? Your hip?
As long as I stopped him
from hurting someone else.
His concern was did we get the bad guy?
I think that goes back to military,
you know. The mission comes first.
And we're secondary.
I got it, I got it. We got you.
One of our deputies,
he ended up telling me
I ended up hitting another vehicle
and the impact that vehicle exploded.
The only thing that went through my
mind was, like, "I killed someone."
I would never be able to do this job again
because I've taken someone life.
I was trying to save a life
by stopping this person from hurting
or killing someone.
It was my vehicle that hit that vehicle.
That's the one they called
that was on fire.
- They said county vehicle is on fire.
- The Major said this one's on fire.
Maybe it was a 10-46?
- That would be great.
- That would be awesome.
We were looking through the vehicle
while they were putting fire out.
"Is there a body in there?"
"We don't see one."
It was determined that the driver
of the vehicle was actually arrested
by Kingsland police department
the day before for DUI,
so the vehicle was left on the side
of the road there.
The dispatcher told me that vehicle
was a 10-46
and what that means
is it's an abandoned vehicle.
I was so relieved that there was
no-one in the vehicle.
I know that I did not hurt
or kill anyone by trying to stop him.
That is the craziest shit.
I don't think nobody in there, thank God.
- Nobody's in here? Where they at?
- I think no.
I don't know,
but I'm glad they ain't in there.
Whenever we found out
that the bad guy was going to jail
and there no body,
nobody killed in the process,
I mean, it was
it was a weight taken off of us, for sure.
McIntosh deputies took the suspect
into custody
and he was placed in the back
of one of the deputy's cars
and transported back to McIntosh.
I was in the hospital for only three days,
and that's because I could not stand
being in a hospital.
I was pretty hopeful right whenever
he first got hurt that he'd be back.
I thought for sure he'd be back,
but then it was taken,
it was taking a while for him
to get cleared by his doctors.
I was out for almost a year.
I think I was able to do a week,
but we realized that there's an issue
with my back.
So the doctors looked at that,
and then they permanently
disqualified me from doing patrol.
I miss it. Every time I see
a patrol car or I see lights,
it makes me think how much
I loved doing it,
and how angry I am because somebody
else took it away from me.
Corporal Thigpen is a first responder
recruiter now,
he still works with the county.
I still see him
around the patrol building.
It's something I love doing, to keep
me still part of, of the family.
I may not be on the road,
but I can send
somebody that will be on the road
or in fire and rescue that can help.
Thinking back to that night,
I don't have any regrets.
I was able to stop him from hurting
or killing someone else.
This accident changed me in
I don't know how many different ways,
but the people see me and I'm smiling
or I'm laughing, or they're, like,
"You don't look
like you've been in an accident."
I'm like, "On the outside, no.
On the outside I'm still hurting."
I still may be broken,
but I'm smiling and I'm laughing
and I'm cheerful,
I try to pass that on
because I'm still here.
That night was kind of quiet.
We were leaving a call.
Deputy Dougherty had seen a vehicle pass
and put it over the radio,
asking did I see that vehicle?
Was it the one from the night before?
It's the stolen Dodge from last night?
The suspect was driving an older gray
model Dodge.
I noticed that it was the same truck
and I kind of locked eyes
with the guy inside,
and at that point I went ahead
and got behind the vehicle,
so that I could provide
the license plate to Dispatch.
Dispatch confirmed that it was a
stolen vehicle at that time.
My heart starts pounding a bit,
because you don't know
when you hit those red and blue lights
if that vehicle is gonna pull over
or if it's gonna punch it.
I was the second vehicle behind the truck.
There was a second where I thought
the suspect would pull over.
When he pulled out onto 20-25, it was on.
Where's it located?
San Jacinto County
is roughly 700 square miles,
about 75 percent of it's
wooded forest and it's very rural.
A lot of dirt roads
that kick up a lot of dust,
so it takes your visibility down
to almost zero at times.
32, speeds are 80 to 85.
It looks like we might be turning
onto 945.
FM945 runs from middle of nowhere
to the middle of nowhere.
I had no clue where the suspect was going.
We were following behind until
he either stopped or we stopped him.
Right lane, going northbound on 945.
Speeds at 45. Picking up.
The suspect was veering, lane to lane.
I tried to keep my spotlight on him,
which I'm not sure if that
was making him mad or not.
What I was thinking was
how crazy he was driving.
If another car was to come around
the corner,
and he wouldn't have had a reaction time,
it would have been a head-on collision.
Due to our policy, we're not allowed
to perform a PIT maneuver.
We basically have to just follow
behind the vehicle
and hope that he makes an error.
Coming up on Shell Oil, speeds at 63.
That speed hitting that dirt,
you almost lose control of your vehicle.
You do a fishtail, you kind of
hit your brakes a little bit,
trying to gain control.
Eastbound on Shell.
These small country roads are always
very isolating,
very spooky, very haunting.
You don't know what's lurking
behind anything.
It looks a lot worse in real life
than it does through that camera.
32, we've hit the pavement on Shell,
speeds upgraded to about 80.
Always wondering is somebody gonna
come and he'll end up T-boning them
or are we gonna make it through this,
okay?
Blew the stop sign at 1725.
Going on Fostoria.
32, we're still southbound
on Fostoria, speeds at 65.
I'll give you a landmark soon as I can.
During the pursuit, I did not have GPS.
I was extremely conscious
of where we were going
and not having a clue
if any other roads popped up,
because I was thinking about
if we were to leave the county
and go into another county.
I would have no clue where we were going.
I go balls to the wall, if I feel I
can drive and keep up and do it,
I don't pay attention
to what the screen says, I just go.
If you feel the car slip, then
your butt puckers up a little bit.
32, be advised he is all over the road.
We didn't know who the suspect was,
didn't know his name.
We just kind of had to go on a limb
of still thinking of what he's doing,
trying to figure out his next move.
32, we're passing Trails End.
Turning northbound on Trails End.
Right away, I knew this was gonna be
a big mistake.
There is several potholes in that area.
Usually, you don't get
over five miles per hour.
And in this case, we were moving.
Is my car gonna be able to handle
this road?
He's in an older model Dodge.
It sits a little bit higher,
got a little bit bigger tired,
so at that point he had the advantage.
32, I believe we just passed Hicks Loop.
32, 30, do you know what this is?
An access road?
I wasn't sure what was in the water,
if we were gonna hit a large rock or not,
but I figured I'm going for it
because he's going for it.
It almost felt like
I was gliding across it,
but at the same time
it took my visibility out.
I couldn't see a thing for a minute.
I saw the suspect hit the water.
I then saw Sergeant Cosme hit the water,
and I said,
"Yeah, screw it, I'm going too."
I did try to stop my vehicle and slow down
and realized it's not wanting to stop.
At the very last second,
my brakes kind of locked in
and I was able to make the turn
before I went off road.
Well, after that creek
and that first left turn,
all the roads run parallel basically,
so when we hit the next street he
made another left, and the next left.
I was kind of mad at that point that,
you know,
"Look, I'm still behind you. When are
you gonna give up?" You know?
"Now's the time, because you haven't
shaken me and I'm still coming."
When you're chasing,
you don't know who they are
or if they have weapons in the car.
You don't know if they killed
somebody or robbed a bank,
you just know that they
don't wanna stop for some reason
and you don't wanna let them get away.
Approaching 105.
Speeds are 40 to 45.
He was toying with us,
doing whatever he could
to just frustrate us even more.
He's trying to ram me.
Deputy Dougherty kind of swings
around the back
and kind of gets up next to the vehicle.
He's gonna try to get in front of him
and maybe box him in,
and we could slow him down.
The only options we had were either
to wait until he ran out of gas,
either he crashed or to call another
agency with stop sticks.
If a suspect is willing to crash
or run people off the road,
he has no regard for other people's lives.
32, he is into oncoming traffic.
Just FYI.
He's turning right on Duck Creek Road.
I feel like he was ready to end it.
I also feel he knew the subdivision
and could potentially hide from us.
There was heavy brush and trees,
but there was also
quite a few houses in that area,
so not knowing exactly where I was,
I wasn't sure
what we were about to get into.
He is now headed down service road 4203.
The back of someone's property.
My hand went immediately to my weapon,
I was getting ready for the ambush.
We're in somebody's yard.
Just straight up tearing up
their front yard.
I couldn't imagine what they would see,
a suspect vehicle followed
by at least four sand drag.
This is priceless.
He's heading into a field.
All of a sudden,
we're in the middle of the woods.
I figured this was not gonna be good,
because his vehicle's a little more
made for this than mine is.
He's probably about to stop here.
33, we're off in the woods now.
I didn't see he had a weapon on him
at the time,
so I opted to go with the less lethal
and try to end it right then and there.
I fired two rounds off at the suspect
with the pepper gun
and missed with both of them.
Oh, he ran this way.
The environment around me
was absolutely pitch black,
extreme brush, downed trees.
I can't see this guy and while
I'm poking around in the woods,
shining my flashlight this way and that,
he know exactly where I'm at
and if he has a gun on him,
I'm an easy target.
White male, bald headed.
Can we get a dog?
We were still kind of patrolling
the little perimeter
of where we thought maybe he would be.
I thought our chances were dwindling
I was pretty sure at that point
he might have gotten up
and kind of crept off
while we weren't there.
Yeah, he went right where
you're standing, Josh.
I knew it!
- I was right there.
- I knew it.
Lo and behold, they go to the trail
area where I was, and I kid you not,
a minute, minute and a half,
the guard goes, "There he is."
Roll over. Come on. Come on out.
Let me see that hand.
Great job, guys.
Great job, guys.
I kind of liked the fact
that I got to handcuff him.
- Put him in your car, Sarge?
- Oh, yeah. We're going to jail, son.
They made a lot of fun for saying that,
so that was the phrase around
the office for the longest time.
- What's your first name?
- B-R-A-D-Y.
We found out his name was Brady Lloyd
and he did have multiple gun charges.
- Mr. Lloyd?
- Yes, sir.
I'm gonna read you
these Miranda warnings, okay?
I already know them.
I do think he stayed off-road
more than on-road
for the fact that his truck was built
better than ours for it.
He knew he was giving us some hell.
The proudest thing
about that whole pursuit
was the fact that no-one was injured
and we got the guy.
What's made me most proud
was our determination, not giving up.
I think Mr. Lloyd learned not to mess
with Sam Jacinto County.