01x03 - Running on Empty

[bunniefuu]

I saw my suspect vehicle

taking evasive action

and then, bam, there was the deputy.

I was going to hit him.

At those speeds, there's really

not a lot of reactionary time.

He's weaving in and out of the lane.

The vehicle's all over the road.

You want to run from us? We're

gonna give you a run for your money.

Moments like that

make my heart skip a beat.

This guy just came up to me with a

knife and he got on the school bus.

How do we respond to this?

What is the response for a bus hijacking?

That a 30,000-pound bus.

You're like, "There's no way

I can get out of the way in time."

I've worked for Marion County

Sheriff's Office for 10 years now.

I was a corporal and I was assigned

to the traffic unit.

I was mainly focused on speed

violations, aggressive driving,

reckless driving, things of that effect.

I spotted this car, this red vehicle

going faster than the supposed

speed limit of 70 miles per hour.

I clocked that vehicle

at 96 miles per hour.

Why? Why are you this fast?

He appeared as if he was pulling over

and yielding to the traffic stop,

but he decided to flee.

So when he took off, I took off.

Speed is about 90, passing 200

miles. Still northbound.

Two hundred, northbound.

And after that car took off,

my wife,

who was the dispatcher at the time,

was already doing her magic.

10-4, it's gonna be a red Ford Taurus.

We've been married since 2017.

When I hear that he's in a situation

like this, my nerves are on high.

I'm the one there that has his back.

During these most difficult

situations, he's not alone.

- Fifty-nine, I'm gonna head that

way. What's their DOT? -Northbound.

Fifty-nine, I'm right here ready

with stop sticks up above.

At those speeds, anywhere from 90

to 110 miles per hour,

there's really not a lot

of reactionary time.

- Deploying stop sticks, northbound.

- Watch out, kid. Kid, watch out!

In the process of him

stretching that line out,

suspects try to avoid the sticks

and swerve towards that deputy.

He had just about hit my partner.

I'm pretty determined at this point

to get him stopped.

- What was the vehicle description?

- Red Ford Taurus.

Speed is still about 90, 95.

Having Air One is a game changer.

They're utilizing a helicopter

that has a couple of capabilities,

spotlight, the infrared camera

system, regular camera system.

- Air One, are you going to call it?

- Air One's 97.

We got him in the camera.

Still northbound.

I got stop sticks

just north of the overpass

if I can get them in front of you.

The second set of sticks

were being deployed

in roughly an area of Highway 326

in northwest 63rd Street.

I'm going to back off,

give the guy a little bit more room.

They're coming up to the bridge now.

The unit with stop sticks.

When it comes to innocents

out there on the road,

the chances of multi vehicle wreck

is very real.

What's the color of the car?

The next red car, center lane.

Are you moved over to the shoulder?

Moved over to the shoulder.

He might have got some of the stop sticks,

but he tried to avoid them.

Still northbound.

So I have no idea

if we have a successful hit.

- What are the charges?

- Speeding, 90 in a 70.

I have no idea why he was running,

but me seeing that there's two

other occupants in that car,

he's endangering them as well.

I've worked for the Marion County

Sheriff's Office

for a little over 14 years.

I was assigned to the canine unit.

Deputy Christmas and I

are very good friends,

so, in the back of my mind,

I need to get there

and I need to help my buddy.

In my patrol vehicle,

it was just me and my canine Adelmo.

Adelmo is a Belgian Malinois.

He's what we call a dual-purpose dog.

So he tracks, he apprehends,

and he's one of the best partners

I've ever had.

He's back there. He's whining.

He's excited. He's spinning around.

And he's ready to do his job.

It is important for the dog

to see the person that we're actually

wanting to apprehend first.

When we get that dog out,

he see somebody running,

that's what he sees.

He gets locked in on it.

He is locked in on that moving target

and he is going to go get it.

Once I got to the on ramp,

there was another deputy there

that had stop sticks out as well.

I'm going to block traffic.

Stay right there.

I'm going to block them coming on.

Kilo-50, folks, got traffic stopped

at 326 to come on the interstate.

All right, we're coming up

to the overpass now.

I see the unit on the right-hand side.

- They're in the middle lane now.

- Middle lane.

Just confirming

they're still northbound, right?

Yeah, I got 59-91 is here

with stop sticks.

- Ford Taurus.

- Taurus, in the inside lane.

10-4, I'm ready. I'm clear.

All right,

we're coming over the bridge now.

I couldn't see exactly where he may

be deploying those sticks.

If we make mistakes,

it could be somebody's life.

Next big semi that's passing you,

they're going to be coming up.

Three twenty-six, get ready.

I saw my suspect vehicle

taking evasive action.

And then, bam, there was the deputy.

I thought for sure I was going to hit him.

- They're in the middle lane now

- Middle lane.

Everything slowed down.

The Chevrolet Tahoe versus a human body

at 100 miles an hour

is going to be catastrophic.

That was gut-wrenching.

It's definitely nerve-wracking for

him to have to react to that

because, you know, that's one

of his brothers in front of him.

He threw his stop sticks behind him

and was able to get one to two tires

on the driver's side of that vehicle.

- Kilo, get up here. -Middle lane.

Tried to avoid the sticks.

They lost a tire.

They're gonna bail out.

His front left tire. He's on the--

Front left tire is on a rim.

I saw the wheel going down the road.

I knew he's lost control.

You all get out of my way.

Current 359.

- Mile marker 359 northbound.

- They're coming to a stop here

just south of the bridge

here at 63rd Street.

Just south. Station 633.

Up, up.

Up, up, up.

I got to get over. I got to get over.

Once I jumped the fence and got a few

feet into the wood line,

it was so thick I lost sight of him.

So now I got to find where the dog is

and where the bad guy is

and get to them as fast as possible.

- Just remember, there's a dog out.

- 10-4, he lives on the ground.

They went into the tree line.

I can't see anybody with the camera.

Odie! Odie!

Damn it. Odie, fuss!

I was using the word "fuss"

which is German to come to me.

But I don't think he could hear me.

f*ck!

It was a very bad feeling. He's not

just my partner, he's family.

Odie, fuss!

It was pretty important

to get the passengers detained.

I stayed within the confines

of my vehicle,

calling them out one by one.

One black female detained.

Two still outstanding--

Two outstanding black males?

We got two.

Black female, black male.

Kilo is tracking the other black male.

It's going to be a black male,

low-cut hair,

black T-shirt, blue jean shorts.

- Ow!

- I hear it.

Good boy!

It was unknown at the time if the

suspect was going to be armed or not.

Don't hit my dog!

Let him go! Let him-- Let him go!

Let go of him, now!

Let go of him!

- Okay, okay, okay.

- Let go.

Adelmo was doing his job.

He was staying in the fight.

My main job is,

let's get this guy in handcuffs.

Let's get him secure,

so he can't run anymore.

He can't fight the dog, he can't

fight me, and we can end this.

- Take your hands off.

- Please.

I'm gonna put them behind my back.

- Put him behind your back.

- Come on, come on, come on.

- Aus.

- Okay.

- Please don't let him bite me.

- Aus.

- Come on.

- Aus!

- Please don't let him bite me again.

- I'm not.

I'm ready. Don't let the dog bite me.

- Get up.

- Suspect in custody.

10-4, subject detained 10-15.

Thank you, send a medic.

We're about 7500 yards

back to the east of the fence line.

Good boy.

Everybody is accounted for.

I've got the two.

- If you've got the one, we're 10-4.

- 10-4, all subjects in custody.

Thank you, everyone. Good job, guys.

There's a huge sense of relief when

something like that comes to an end.

The bad guy's caught

and he's going to jail.

It felt good going home

to Kayla after this

because her and I make a good team.

It's relief. It's knowing that he did

another high stressful situation

and he was able to come home that night.

- You promise me I can see my family?

- I can't promise you that, Nicholas.

I really wanted to say bye to my family.

What was your reasoning

for getting on the bus?

- What was your reason?

- I ran for my life, man.

Were you running from somebody

or something?

I don't know, man.

There's a lot of people

that were chasing me.

There's a lot of people involved.

911.

Hi, yes. I'm at the bus stop,

and this guy just came up to me

with a knife.

Listen, he got on the school bus

with the bus driver,

and they're driving down Martin Street.

- Is it a school bus?

- Yes.

- I'm so scared right now.

- It's okay. Just calm down.

So he's not a student?

No, he was some crazy freaking guy,

and he had a knife.

I think there's kids on that bus.

That morning,

I was patrolling the school districts

and the initial call came out

over our police radio.

We had a call from a female

at 1010 North First,

advised that a white male,

orange T-shirt, dark blue pants,

bald head, came up to her with a knife.

He then proceeded

to get on the school bus,

headed down North First,

headed to Pinewood Elementary.

She's advising he is not a driver.

It'll be bus number 47.

383, was he threatening with the

knife, or did he just have a knife.

She advised that he pulled a knife on her.

10-4, can you contact the bus yard

and see if he's supposed to be

on that bus?

They're trying to make contact

with the bus at this time.

When you hear "school bus" you're

like, it makes you kind of step back

and like, "Man, this is super

important."

Confirm if there's any children

on the bus.

- Yes, 10-4.

- 10-4, do we know how many?

No, the bus depot

was unable to make contact.

We were looking at our supervisors.

How do we respond to this?

What was the response for a bus hijacking?

The immediate feeling

was the blood rushing from your body.

What is this man going to do

with these children?

All the detectives

were listening to the radio

trying to determine what's going on

and where they were at.

The bus depot supervisor advised

they had contact with the driver.

They advised that she's on Tonyville road.

All units en route.

Information,

we're coming up on the back side

of U-Pull-It junkyard.

Standby, I'm almost there too.

I was responsible for all the officers

that were working the streets

that morning.

I had to coordinate where they were

compared to where the bus was

and try to get them in position.

Cabot, give me the bus number again.

Thirteen dash nine two, 13-92.

We're right behind it now. We're

about six Jacksonville officers

approaching Highway 89 from five south.

Is he pulling over?

Negative not yet. Still driving.

I was scared.

My heart just started beating.

The adrenaline started flowing very fast.

We didn't know if he was going to

harm the bus driver or the children.

Was he going to wreck the school bus?

What was he going to do?

The male subject came across

the driver's radio,

advised explicitly

that he was messed up in the head.

That's all we have. No more contact.

There is no playbook

for this type of event.

This is something

that we've never trained for.

So there was no "If this occurs,

this is what we do."

There is no concrete plan

or a written directive

for how to handle that exact situation.

We have policies and procedures,

train for different various events.

But we've never had a situation

to train for that and what to do.

Is stopping the school bus

like stopping the vehicle?

No, not at all. It's going to take

a lot more to stop a school bus.

And you don't want to--

You have to be careful how it stops.

The school bus is full of children.

As a parent, I think that I do

respond to things differently

in the sense that I immediately go

to, what is this?

Is this my child?

What happens if this was my child?

And I know that a parent's heart

could instantly go

to the worst-case scenario

rather than it's going to be okay.

And so I felt that immediately.

Children never deserve to be caught

up in that type of situation ever.

I honestly never dealt with the

children on this particular incident.

But I can just imagine

the fear that they had to have.

They have no idea who this person is.

They go to school.

They feel safe on the school bus.

They know this bus driver.

And then now all of a sudden,

this terrible thing has happened.

And they have no idea where they're going.

I personally couldn't imagine

being in that situation.

I had no idea

what the suspect's motive was.

Was he motivated to hurt somebody

or just trying to escape?

- 33, has he made any demands?

- Not at this time.

The nightmare behind the situation was,

what he was gonna do to the children,

what he could do to the bus driver?

I had 11 children that morning on board.

They were elementary children.

The oldest child, probably, was 10.

We were on Martin Street.

This young man got on the bus,

and he told me to shut the door and drive.

And I said, excuse me?

That's when he reached into his

pocket and pulled out a knife.

And I just said, okay, okay.

He wanted to take the wheel.

He asked me to jump out of the seat

and let him drive.

So, he sat down and he took off.

He was talking like some kind

of demons was going on with him.

The children were scared.

They were crying.

But my motherhood kicked in.

It's like, "I gotta take care of

these children."

I had one young man,

he just wanted to get off the bus.

And I kept calling his name and told him,

"Just be quiet

and let Miss Hart talk to him."

I just kept reassuring them

that we was going to be okay.

I was working to get in position

to intercept the school bus.

They were coming directly towards me.

I made a decision at that point

to get in front of the school bus

to try to stop it.

Cabot, I've got visual I believe.

Behind him, Jacksonville and State units.

They're about to approach me.

I'm gonna try and stop it.

I thought, "Okay, if I pull up

in front of it, they're gonna stop.

They're not gonna want

to hit a police car."

I realized, very rapidly,

that they weren't gonna stop.

They're either gonna hit me

and wreck us both.

I moved out of the way real fast.

Yeah, but I tried to stop

in front of the bus,

but they were going to ram me,

so I moved out of the way.

The driver didn't care

about the welfare of those children,

and he would do whatever it took

to get away.

I tried to stay as calm as possible.

But I never had it in my mind

to grab the knife or grab the wheel.

I was trying to not make him angry

at any point

because I wanted to get the kids

off that bus that day safe.

He wanted to sing with the children.

He wanted to sing "The Wheels

on the Bus Go Round and Round."

But they was not trying to sing with

him. They were scared.

472, coming up on the intersection

of highway five and 89

at 40 miles per hour.

I saw the red light coming towards us.

I was thinking, "Oh, God."

My heart rate, it was racing.

Oh, God, I hope he stops.

472, we are going through

the intersection at 89

through a red light.

I thought it was going to be a

collision at that point right there.

I knew then he was not going to stop

at no stop sign, no stop light.

None of that. We were trapped.

There was no way off.

He was very dangerous.

He wasn't yielding to cars.

He wasn't yielding to oncoming traffic.

The bus still has not pulled over.

It come off the road a couple of

times and just hit a curb.

The farther away that he goes,

the more danger

those kids would have been in.

It was imperative that we stopped

that school bus as soon as possible.

What are we gonna do about this bus?

We gonna spike it or something?

I was on the radio

talking to Officer Mulligan.

He was gonna set spike strips out

across the road

to, hopefully, deflate the tires

on the school bus

and bring the school bus to a stop.

That's our plan.

- Cabot is gonna deploy spike strips.

- 10-4.

I was worried about what was he gonna do.

Was he gonna try to drive the bus

on the rims?

Which makes it more dangerous.

Was he going to stop

and hold the kids hostage?

They're going to deploy them

at Mountain Springs Road.

Mountain Springs Road.

Cabot, we are all setup now

on Mountain Springs. Let them know.

I've got my spikes up.

I see the bus across the hill.

Couldn't believe it. You see this big

yellow front of the school bus.

All the blue lights and everything

right behind it. That can't be real.

The realization quickly hits you

like, "Okay. Game time. This is it."

You make sure that you're the one

that's gonna be able to stop the bus.

When we started going down,

that's when I realized

that the state troopers

had a roadblock down there.

Cabot, just deployed at this intersection

we're coming up on.

Be prepared to move up.

The guy that was driving the bus

said, "They threw the spike strips."

And then he immediately

veers off the road.

And he's driving right at me.

And there's nowhere for me to go.

That's a 30,000-pound bus.

You're like, "This is, this is it."

There's no way

I can get out of the way in time.

There was no doubt in my mind

that I was fixing to know

what yellow tasted like.

- Hey!

- Hey, hey, come on!

Show me your hands!

Show me your hands!

Get down!

Show me your hands!

Get down! Get down!

What is the suspect doing?

Is he hurting somebody?

Is he trying to play?

What is he doing?

We had our negotiators ready if this

turned into a hostage situation.

Show me your hands!

Show me your hands!

We hit the door open,

he stands up out of the seat.

I jumped up

and I ran to the back of the bus

and I said, "Come on, guys.

Let's go. Let's go."

Come on, go. Come on. Go, go, go.

Come on, come on. Go, go, go.

I ran to the emergency door

and started picking kids up

and just toss them off the bus

as fast as I can.

Kids screaming, scared for their

life. You can see it in their eyes.

I'll never get those images

out of my head.

Go, go. Come on, come on.

Go, go, go.

Get down! Get down!

We pulled the suspect off the bus

and we take him to the ground

and we put him in handcuffs there,

and then it's over with.

- Who do you work for?

- I don't.

- Okay. Where did you get the bus?

- I stopped it.

- You stopped it?

- Yeah, because I was scared.

Everybody's safe. It's under control.

472, got one in custody.

An Arkansas man,

under arrest this morning,

charged with hijacking a school bus

filled with elementary school kids.

Police say 22-year-old Nicholas

Miller, armed with a knife,

commandeered the bus

in in the suburb of Little Rock.

He then lead police

Can you tell us what happened today

from the beginning?

I just believe

I was given a bad shot of dope.

At what time did you have a shot of dope?

About five this morning, around three.

What was your reasoning for getting

on the bus? What was your reason?

Because I was afraid

they were gonna physically k*ll me.

I really wanted to say bye to my family.

All my superintendents,

they said I did exactly

what I should have done that day.

That I shouldn't have

done nothing different.

So I was very proud.

It was-- It was a proud moment.

I think if something

would've happened to those kids

while I was on that watch,

it would have been terrible.

You're sitting at home reflecting on it,

saying, "Man, that could have been

so much worse."

But we are thankful that it wasn't.

I was on patrol.

I was just driving the area.

I saw a vehicle driving

that the plate was a temporary tag,

or paper license plate.

I went to inspect the vehicle further.

The vehicle started to speed up.

So, that indicated to me

that the person saw me

and didn't want me

to make contact with them.

The paper tag was flapping in the wind.

That tag did not look legitimate.

I felt that there was more to it

and I just had to find out

what else was going on.

In pursuit of a black C250 Mercedes,

temp tag.

Once he did start to flee,

the adrenaline does start to pump.

Passing under the 460 bridge.

Speed is 73 miles per hour.

I can't tell how many times occupied.

These people think

that I'm just gonna run,

that's going to be it

and we're not going to follow.

We're gonna get to you.

It's not gonna be easy for you.

DPS 101, Kaufman County in pursuit.

Affirmative, crossing over

East Fork Trinity River bridge.

Speed is 80 miles per hour.

Okay, what's the vehicle

description? We're right here.

It's a four-door black Mercedes C250,

just crossed the Dallas County line.

101, we've got you in sight.

We're overhead.

We'll call the pursuit.

He's westbound 80. We've got one

unit with him inside lane.

330 to 101, I am a K-9.

Just so you know there will be a K-9

coming up behind you guys.

- I'll be in the unmarked.

- Okay, good. Copy.

My main concern was just trying

to catch up to Deputy Britton.

Mainly, for his safety.

But I had to negotiate

quite a bit of traffic.

I can see one driver.

I don't see any other movement.

We just committed from 80.

We're going northbound 635.

Northbound 635 from 80.

That's when he started to go

towards Dallas.

Now, we're dealing

with an increasing population.

And as a result, more traffic.

Okay, he's accelerated pretty good,

northbound 635.

Moments like that make your heart stop.

Okay, he's weaving in and out of the lane.

The vehicle's all over the road.

He was willing to do

whatever he could to get away,

whether it meant hurting someone or not.

Still northbound 635,

about 80 miles an hour.

Exit, it's the exit for Plano Road.

Looks like a white shirt

or a gray hoodie on the driver.

Only see it occupied one time.

Right-hand turn, southbound Plano Road.

Cross traffic from your left, use caution.

Left turn, Maple Ridge.

Maple Ridge is coming back here,

coming up the little neighborhood.

To the right, northbound Plano Road.

Blew the light, he's going under 635.

I read the speed,

Plano coming up to Miller.

Lots the cross traffic from your left.

Okay, he blew the intersection.

As he's blowing through

these intersections,

each one makes me hold my breath.

We got a red light up here.

Red light, red light.

Luckily, we made it through,

but moments like that

make my heart skip a beat.

This guy's doing speeds

in excess of 100 miles per hour.

My patrol vehicle is actually

a Dodge Charger Hellcat.

That was a drug seizure.

You want to run from us? We're

gonna give you a run for your money.

It's a good feeling

because that vehicle is quite quick.

Okay, you just went the wrong way.

Southbound Plano.

Back in the correct way.

What just happened?

Where the suspect

pulls into the parking lot,

we thought we had him cornered.

But at that point,

he saw an opportunity

between my car and the bushes.

And he took that opportunity.

The suspect had done a U-turn. I

could see him coming back toward me.

When despite our best efforts,

he was doing a good job of getting around.

But every near miss

is potentially someone's life.

So, you know you have to stop this person.

Committing to southbound 635.

At that point, I lost sense of time.

30-32, just be careful

sitting that close to him

just so you don't get brake checked.

The pursuit went all over the Dallas area.

There were several times I thought

that he was going to lose it.

Block him in, stop.

Took Gower off

into this construction area.

Son of a b*tch.

But being the driver that he was,

he was able to keep going.

Coming. Took a right hand turn

on the service road.

Suspect is driving on the shoulder in

between the concrete barricades.

There's a lot of debris.

You have nowhere to go

but over that debris.

Be careful of all this dust

and sand on the road.

My tires blew.

This situation took me out of the pursuit.

So, at this point, we had been

chasing him for well over two hours.

In my mind,

it had been a mere few minutes.

Thirty-two to thirty,

I'm almost out of fuel.

Okay. 10-4. I've got a little less

than half a tank

so if you got to drop out,

I'll stay in it.

Affirmative, I'm out.

After Deputy Britton pulled off

to get fuel,

I was behind the vehicle.

Use caution there. He's turning her

back around, U-turning.

Bailing out. Bailing out.

Black male, gray pants,

got a white hoodie.

We're staying with him, guys.

At any point,

he could run into someone's home.

We don't know if he has a weapon.

So he could go in the house

and barricade himself in there

with, you know, some family.

Ran between two houses off of Green Ash.

The helicopter was giving me street names.

One Alert, where's that at?

Is he still in the alleyway?

He ran between two houses

off of Green Ash.

We got some units set up on Green Ash.

At this point, I did slow down,

keep my head on a swivel.

He's running down the alley.

That him right in front of you.

DSO, get in your car

and go straight down the street.

Come on, come on.

Move, move, move.

Gray car, off to your left.

K-9, K-9, K-9!

Here, here, here!

Here! Here! Right here! Here!

Go! Go!

Troop hold there. He's coming out

to the front on Green Ash,

running away from you.

The helicopter was telling me

through my earpiece

which direction he was going.

Here, here, here!

Here, here!

- K-9, hook your next left.

- Here!

Go, go!

Go, go! Go, go! Go, go!

Go! Go, go!

- Here, here!

- Hold K-9, hold K-9.

Now the suspect had jumped a fence.

He was in the backyard

trying to find another way out.

K-9. Hold what you got.

He's on the other side of that house

about to pop out to the front.

Search! Go! Go!

Go, go, go!

Here. Get on the ground now.

Get on the ground now. On the ground.

One at gunpoint.

Hey, when he bounced,

he had a black bag with him.

Now we know why the suspect went

so far and so long to get away.

Hey. You did good. You did good.

What did I tell you about the fake

tags? They're gonna run from you.

I'm very relieved that he complied

with my instructions.

Once I got back to the scene

and he was already cuffed,

I put him into my patrol vehicle.

And, ultimately, I was the one

to transport him to jail.

We need to remind them

that law enforcement is always here.

We will continue to do

what's right for the public

and for the safety of everybody.