An East Texas man was arrested on felony charges of evading arrest after allegedly stealing steaks from a Walmart store in Longview. He then led police on a two-county high speed chase.
Officers arrested the man after he allegedly stole a back of steaks from the Walmart Neighborhood Market in Longview on Wednesday morning, KLTV ABC7’s Bob Halmark reported. Police in East Mountain, Texas, attempted to stop the man after learning of an earlier pursuit in Longview.
Officers from the Longview Police Department initially attempted to stop the driver after Walmart reported the theft. He fled from the officers who eventually called off the pursuit after the man fled their jurisdiction, East Mountain Police Sergeant Marc Nichols told Breitbart Texas in a phone interview.
Shortly after that, Nichols observed the man driving the blue sedan that matched the description put out by Longview PD. “I turned around on him at that point and he began to accelerate,” Nichols told Breitbart Texas. “Once we reached the main highway, speeds went up to around 100 miles per hour.”
He led police on a high-speed pursuit through two East Texas counties, the local ABC station reported. During the pursuit, officers began seeing packages of steaks being thrown from the window of the vehicle.
East Mountain, located in Upshur County, just north of Longview,
Suring the pursuit Nichols said he was surprised to have his vehicle hit by a flying chunk of beef. “This was a new one,” Sergeant Marc Nichols told the KLTV reporter. “It appears that there’s steaks and meats of some sort flying out of the windows, and one of them bounced off my patrol car.”
The police sergeant said this was not something you normally think of people stealing from a store. He said he was surprised someone would run from the police for this.
Nichols told Breitbart Texas it appeared the suspect threw out about 10-12 steaks during the pursuit. He said his vehicle sustained no damage from the package that hit his patrol unit.
Fortunately, no one was hurt during the chase, but the steaks appear to no longer fit for consumption after being thrown from the car at speeds that reached over 100 miles per hour.
“It was very clear that the packages contained steaks and other meat products,” Nichols told this outlet. “Once he stopped, the driver surrendered without any resistance.”
The man was arrested and taken to Upshur County jail. He is expected to be arraigned in court on Thursday.
Officials were not able to release his name pending the arraignment. Breitbart Texas learned the man does have a prior criminal history that includes convictions.
He is currently facing a third-degree felony charge of evading arrest or detention in a vehicle. Other charges are expected to be filed by Gregg County in connection with the theft and pursuit in Longview.
The man could also face charges of attempting to destroy evidence. Nichols said no weapons were involved in this case.
Most of the steaks shown in the KLGT video appear to be USDA Choice rib eyes and T-bones.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas and is a member of the original Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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