I saw the suspect

Txroadcyclist · Post by **Txroadcyclist** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:13 pm

This happened about an hour ago. I was driving west on 2243 (Leander Highway in Georgetown) and was getting ready to turn south and get on I-35 to go back to work in Round Rock. While I was sitting at the red light, I saw a Georgetown Police officer sprint across Leander Highway with what appeared to be his weapon drawn and head into my neighborhood. My wife and daughter were at home and I decided to go to my house and check on them. I went south down the access road until I got to Thousand Oaks Blvd and turned right on Luther, which in the excitement was a mistake, however, I saw two more police cars searching the area. I went north back to Leander highway and turned left and then left again on Woodmont where I spotted a young man dart across the street that kept looking back over his shoulder. He didn't appear to notice me when he ran back behind a strip center that is in front of my neighborhood. A Georgetown PD car was coming up the opposite direction as the suspect continued to run behind the strip center. I flashed my headlights a number of times but the officer turned onto Woodview. I made another mistake and called my wife to make sure the doors were locked instead of calling 911 and keep my eyes on the guy in the alley. I drove up to Woodview and pulled behind another car that was behind the PD car I tried to signal. I flashed my lights again and the officer saw this and stopped. The car in front of me didn't know what to do so they stopped also. At this point I jumped out of my truck and ran to the officer's car and asked if they were searching for a young black man wearing a long white t-shirt and jeans. She said yes just as another police car was turning onto Woodview. I don't know what this guy did but there sure were alot of officers looking for him. I told the officer that he was running in the alley behind the strip center heading in a direction that I indicated with my hand as west. The officer asked what the address was. That gave me pause because there wasn't an address, it was a grassy alley behind the strip center so I just looked at the nearest street sign and read it off. I got back into my truck and got out of the way by going down the closest street. The officer I originally saw running across Leander Highway was running up this street with his taser drawn. I told him where I saw the guy.

I then get to my house and my wife is standing outside with the front door opened as I pull up. She said she left her purse in her car. I bit my tongue and didn't say anything but that really perturbed me. I got her purse and was hurrying her inside when an unmarked car came up our street. I locked the door and waited with her for about 15 minutes. as we waited we looked out the window in our kitchen and saw another police car go up the street behind our house. After waiting another few minutes I asked if she was comfortable with me going back to work. She said yes.

I got back in my truck and was driving up my street to Woodview and saw 5 police cars and two sheriff cars parked. The officers were walking back to their cars and I asked the officer I saw running, I guess he was getting a ride back to his car, if they caught him. He said yeah, but I was surprised to see a police dog wandering around without his handler nearby and wondered why he wasn't under control of his handler.

I feel a little strange only because I was interjecting myself in a situation where our police were already involved. In hindsight, I feel I should not have signaled the officer with my lights but should have called 911 and have the dispatcher relay the location where I last saw the guy. I think I need to speak to my wife about not listening to the lock the doors and stay inside advice. Our neighborhood is relatively quiet and I think she felt secure. What to ya'll think?

XDandy · Post by **XDandy** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 4:26 pm

man, sounds like a crazy scenerio. I hope you find out ( with an update if you do) what the guy did. You did more than most people would have done and who knows what you might have prevented from happening just by relaying what you saw.

phddan · Post by **phddan** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 7:53 pm

Hey, you did what you thought was the best thing to do at that time. Kudos

Then you had time to think about what happened, and thought of a better way. Kudos again

Well played I think.

Dan

govnor · Post by **govnor** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:38 pm

I probably would have been on the phone to 911. I've called them so many times in the past though, they already know who I am. If I saw the suspect and saw an officer going the wrong way, I'd most likely try to point out where he was to the officer. At least they got the guy.

CHL/LEO · Post by **CHL/LEO** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 8:50 pm

It sounds like you did a good job in helping the officers. The best thing you did was ask the officer if she was looking for a particular person and provided a description of that person. She knew then that you could be a source of some good info.

You would be surprised at the people that will flag us down in a situation like this and then ask us what's going on. That is not a help but a hindrance. If more citizens would get involved like this it really would help us combat crime.

Also, your instinct to take care of your family was the correct one. Make sure they're OK first.

govnor · Post by **govnor** » Mon Jul 02, 2007 9:32 pm

CHL/LEO wrote:It sounds like you did a good job in helping the officers. The best thing you did was ask the officer if she was looking for a particular person and provided a description of that person. She knew then that you could be a source of some good info.

You would be surprised at the people that will flag us down in a situation like this and then ask us what's going on. That is not a help but a hindrance. If more citizens would get involved like this it really would help us combat crime.

Also, your instinct to take care of your family was the correct one. Make sure they're OK first.

I'm always apprehensive about any interaction with the police. Not that I don't like cops, but I've had some pretty poor experiences with uniformed officers in the past. Not because I was doing anything wrong either. I could give you several examples.

If I saw a cop running around I would just want to be out of their way. I *might* flag one down if I thought there was a serious murder suspect or something like that and I spotted them, but normally I'd just let them do whatever they were doing. A lot of officers I've run into on a civilian basis were very rude jerks (uniformed). Not all of course, but enough to make me not want to talk to a cop if I don't have to.