A 53-year-old man made the bad decision of stealing from a retail store and trying to escape from the police in his car. Deputies in Texas responded to a call about a thief who had stolen items from Walmart and were led on a high-speed chase as the suspect attempted to flee. However, the driver crashed the vehicle and had to be saved before it was consumed by flames.
53-year-old arrested after stealing from Walmart and running away from police
On August 16, patrol deputies were alerted to a theft in progress at a Walmart in Porter and observed 53-year-old Michael BeBawi fleeing from the retail store on foot as loss-prevention personnel pursued him, according to a post by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office on its official Facebook page.
The man managed to evade deputies after entering a blue car and driving recklessly out of the parking lot, despite patrol units sounding its siren and displaying emergency lights. The suspect then led police northbound on U.S. 69 on a high-speed chase until he exited at FM 1485 and lost control of the vehicle.
At the intersection, he “crossed a curbed median, struck two signs, and collided with another vehicle, then crossed another curb, struck the Chase Bank sign, and caught fire.”
Bodycam and dashcam footage of the accident at around 1:18 p.m. sees deputies from multiple patrol vehicles running toward the wreck. A deputy was able to pull BeBawi out of the driver’s seat with the airbags deployed as smoke billowed from the front of the car.
As he was being arrested away from the car, another deputy tried to extinguish the fire, but it continued to spread. By the time firefighters arrived on the scene several minutes later, the vehicle was engulfed in flames.
BeBawi was arrested and charged with theft and evading in a vehicle and has been booked in Montgomery County Jail. He has prior arrests related to theft, theft-related offenses, and resisting arrest.
One commenter on Facebook was disappointed in the man for running from police, only to be rescued by them: “Running from police then asking for police for help rescue him and it’s on camera. What was so extreme that he had to run and risk his life as well as our Sheriffs.”
