HIGH-SPEED CHASE THROUGH AUSTIN CO. ENDS IN CRASH, ARREST

  

Austin County authorities arrested a suspect after a high-speed pursuit Thursday afternoon that ended with a rollover crash in Bellville.

According to the Austin County Sheriff’s Office, Wallis police officers were alerted around 5:15 p.m. to a stolen vehicle passing through the city.  Sheriff’s deputies located the vehicle, a white 2019 Dodge truck, just south of Sealy and confirmed it was recently stolen in New Braunfels. 

Once multiple agencies were in place, a sheriff’s deputy in a marked patrol unit activated their lights and sirens attempting to stop the vehicle, but it fled at speeds of over 100 mph.

During the chase, deputies reported seeing the driver throw what appeared to be drugs and a handgun out the window.  No drugs were successfully recovered, but a DPS trooper located the discarded handgun near FM 949 and confirmed it was stolen in Austin. 

Deputies “spiked” the vehicle’s tires near the city limits of Bellville, resulting in it rolling over and coming to a stop close to the Bell Oaks shopping center.

The driver, 17-year-old Eric Tijerina, was transported by Austin County EMS to a Katy-area hospital for treatment of injuries sustained from the vehicle crash.  Deputies traveled with Tijerina in the ambulance, and once he was released from the hospital, they took him into custody and transported him to the Austin County Jail, where he was booked for Unauthorized Use of a Motor Vehicle, Theft of a Firearm, Evading Arrest and Tampering with Evidence.

The sheriff’s office thanks the police departments of Wallis, Sealy, San Felipe and Bellville, as well as DPS, Austin County EMS and the Bellville Fire Department for their assistance.