HOUSTON – An ex-con in a Nissan Altima led police on a high-speed chase through Houston on September 4, 2008 .
It started just before 10:30 a.m. and ended 30 minutes later in a violent rollover crash.
Police tried to pull the suspect over on a felony warrant in the 3000 block of Telephone Road. They said he's a "known prison gang member" with a long rap sheet.
He took off, and police said he tossed some drugs out the window along the way.
They later recovered a substance -- believed to be cocaine -- along with a pistol.
The suspect headed toward I-45 where he blew past other drivers, at times swerving onto the narrow shoulders to pass.
At one point, the suspect tailgated a big rig on a one-lane freeway ramp until he was able to get by.
He exited the freeway in northeast Houston, plowing through the largely industrial part of town at blistering speeds.
The driver ran multiple stop signs, sometimes turning so quickly the car skidded to the side and kicked up dirt.
Other drivers slowed to a stop when they saw the Altima heading their way, and miraculously, no one else was hurt.
A long trail of police officers with their lights flashing followed the suspect at a distance as he circled through the area.
The chase came to an end when the suspect lost control in the 4100 block of Majestic.
He was speeding down the residential street when the back end of his car swerved. He tried to correct it, but instead sent the car into a violent spin.
It rolled over multiple times, flipped up and crash-landed into the side of a two-story home.
Police said the driver almost ran over a neighbor who was on his lawnmower.
“I just ran, man. I just ran. I got away from that lawn mower,” said L.B. Euell.
“I thought I was going to be dead. That car just went airborne. If I wouldn’t have run, I might have gotten hit,” said Euell.
Thick white smoke wafted from under the crunched hood of the car as officers approached, guns drawn.
The suspect struggled to put his hands out of the shattered window.
Fighting through the deployed airbags, the suspect was able to open the door, and officers quickly got him to the ground.
He appeared to be bleeding from his head.
“He sustained injuries from a one car accident as a result of his own actions. A gas line was struck," said HPD Sergeant Sean Rios.
