What seemed to be a routine traffic stop quickly made a turn that might not have gotten a man arrested if he had just stayed in the car. That’s what happened in Texas when deputies from Harris County stopped a vehicle with a driver and three passengers. While the driver was being interrogated by one of the deputies outside of the vehicle, one of the passengers hopped into the driver’s seat and fled away in a panic.
Simple traffic stop turns into a hot pursuit
On September 14, deputies conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle near the 23000 block of Aldine Westfield Road, according to a Facebook post by Mark Herman, Harris County Constable Precinct 4.
The driver of the vehicle stepped out and spoke with the deputies when one of the passengers in the rear seat, Ladrrius Metoyer, climbed over to the driver’s seat. He took control of the vehicle and then sped northbound down Aldine Westfield Road, refusing to stop after police found the fleeing suspect.
Unfortunately for Metoyer, he struck a curb and disabled the vehicle. The three passengers then exited the vehicle and fled from the cops into a nearby subdivision.
Deputies then established a perimeter around the area and searched for the passengers. They found Metoyer hiding underneath a lawn mower cover, and he was taken into custody without further incident. The deputies then realized that Metoyer was a convicted felon.
The post does not provide details on what happened to the initial driver and the other two passengers. It also does not say whether Metoyer had a warrant for his arrest before he fled law enforcement from the original traffic stop.
Either way, Metoyer was arrested and booked into the Harris County Jail and was charged with evading arrest.
“Running from law enforcement only made matters worse for this suspect,” said Constable Mark Herman. “My deputies quickly established a perimeter, tracked him down, and took him into custody after finding him hiding under a lawn mower cover.”
