A police chase ended with the suspect driver’s car in flames and his clothes catching on fire before Fort Bend County Sheriff’s Deputies were able to reach him by shooting out the driver’s side window.
The chase began around 1:19 p.m. yesterday, when a deputy in a marked Sheriff’s Commercial Vehicle was passed by a speeding car on Harlem Rd. in Richmond. The deputy conducted a traffic stop on the car near Harlem Rd. and the Jester One Unit. The car came to a stop and as the deputy approached the car the driver proceeded to flee the scene.
On several instances the driver nearly crashed into vehicles as he continued to flee into the Pecan Grove Subdivision. The deputy lost sight of the vehicle and shortly thereafter found the vehicle to have struck a residence in the1900 block of Rock Fence Dr., and then come to rest on an oak tree.
The vehicle was fully engulfed in flames and the driver was unconscious with his clothes catching on fire. Two Fort Bend County Deputies made numerous attempts to break the driver’s side window in order to remove the driver but were unsuccessful. Eventually, a deputy discharged his firearm at the window which caused it to shatter and they were able to cut the seat belt and rescue the unconscious driver.
The driver was identified as 39-year-old David Richard Howard of the Houston area. Howard was life-flighted to Memorial Hermann Hospital, Downtown where he remains in serious but stable condition. This incident is an on-going investigation and it is still unknown exactly why Howard was traveling at such a high rate of speed.
Wow, impressive!! Sheriff Wright has courageous Deputies in you guys– may I present you with a most deserving Badge of Honor? …And no one was killed?…Hopefully, we will get an update soon.