02x07 - Maximum Overdrive

[bunniefuu]

It's like an 80,000-pound lead m*ssile.

Check. He's taking off.

Lord help me!

Oh, my god. He almost hit a car!

Counterflowing on 59.

You're going the wrong way

down the street.

I was thinking this was about to be

a very, very bad day.

Go, go, stay right on his path.

Struck vehicles.

Can DPS sh**t this guy's tires out?

Because this is getting bad.

Sam, he's coming.

He's going to get stuck.

Okay, here we go.

The fun's about to start.

10-32, traffic disinformation,

he is armed.

I was not going to let this guy get away.

Face down!

Montgomery County 911, what is

the location of your emergency?

I'm passing a planora exit right now

and there's like a truck driver,

and he's like swerving in and out of lanes

and it is like, front of his truck

is like wobbly

and it looks like it's unhitched.

Oh, my God.

At about 1.45 p.m.,

dispatch started receiving phone calls

of a truck driving erratically.

59 South crossing Caney Creek right now,

it's a reckless semi-truck driver,

he's running people off the road.

It's very concerning to the general public

how that truck is on the road

and wobbling that way.

You're talking about an 18-wheeler

that could be 80,000 pounds.

I'm going to locate a white 18-wheeler

in and out of lanes,

southbound, exiting 242.

I don't know what wires he's with,

the truck is wobbly.

I happened to look up and see

a white 18-wheeler driving south.

In the cabin,

it was rocking back and forth.

- 3904.

- 39-04, go ahead.

I'll show you.

I just saw that 18-wheeler pass.

It looks a little dangerous.

I'm gonna try and get back up to it.

Okay.

I was already behind the curve

trying to get him.

So I was going in speeds of excess

of over 100 miles an hour.

About how fast are you going?

Right now?

Oh, god, he's running off the road.

Okay, a cop's behind you now.

A cop is caught.

3004, I think.

We just had 1314. I've got

a Dodge Ram truck in front of him

that tried to slide down.

He's trying to pass the traffic.

He's been slowing down,

and I can see the brake lights.

He's just not stopping.

Highway 59 runs north and south

through Texas,

one of the busiest travel roadways

in Houston.

And Houston has over seven million people.

So on a Saturday,

there are going to be

a lot of people out on the roadway.

There's a white 18-wheeler that's,

I don't know what's wrong with it.

- Okay, are you on 59?

- Yes, I'm on 59.

- Okay, are you--?

- Oh, god. Oh, my goodness.

It went across the--

Okay, we do have another call in,

so we do have people and officer

on the way over there, okay?

Okay.

So as I catch up to the 18-wheeler,

my first thought is that

there must be something

mechanically wrong with the vehicle,

or maybe it's a medical condition

that he's having.

Try now

So I try to get up next to him

so he can see

that we're trying to get him to stop.

Give us updates.

Try to even get a bit ahead of him

to help also clear the roadway.

Oh, no

That's when we realize

he's not going to stop.

- Clear.

- And then it turns into a pursuit.

- 34, come in. 21 in the pursuit.

- 21, that's a terminate.

I'm in line with him now.

I'm just going to go set it up now.

I've been in pursuits

with many vehicles over my career.

This being the first one

with an 18-wheeler,

it's definitely not

a good situation to be in.

21, we're still southbound past 1960.

Clear

Trying to stop this 18-wheeler is

like a bullfighter trying to fight a bull.

They're going against each other,

and the 18-wheeler's going to win

if we were to collide.

This truck is all over the roadway.

This is a major safety factor.

As chief of police, I'm never really off.

If something happens,

I need to be able to make a decision,

and I need to brief myself

on what's going on.

23, 22, go ahead and notify Houston.

I'll repeat it.

Clear.

More agencies involved means

more forward thinking for you

of where this person's going.

By the time I caught up,

I was unit number three or four

inside of the pursuit.

I heard someone mention

the driver was taking the North Park exit,

which I was on North Park Drive

at that time,

so I began to stage in that intersection.

21, be advised,

humble units are in pursuit with us.

Clear.

I wasn't able to intercept

towards the front

like I originally was planning on.

That stuff happens all the time.

It's just you can't really gauge

the way a suspect's driving,

and sometimes they'll go right

when you think they'll go left,

or sometimes they'll stop and

you don't think they'll to stop.

Apollo, what's your record?

Speed's at 76.

This is interesting.

Get ready, Arco. I don't know

what's going to happen, buddy.

I was thinking this was about to be

a very, very bad day.

21, still southbound,

number four lane check.

- He's taking a 100.

- Speed, he's coming through.

My fear was that he was going

to plow into these cars

and k*ll multiple people.

We'll have three lanes closed

ahead of us. That's coming up now.

Traffic's starting to come to a stop.

2322, we're approaching

the west lane exit.

Traffic is at a stop.

It's kind of like

this giant bowling ball

going down a lane

and getting ready to hit the pins.

Of course, my adrenaline's high.

My senses are focused on the truck.

Traffic, 231, is he slowing down?

Maybe he's coming to his senses

and he'll stop. I hope.

2322, he's turning around

to counter-flow down

the exit ramp, or the on-ramp.

Truly, the unthinkable happened.

This driver of this 18-wheeler

tractor-trailer-drawn semi

does a complete 180 degree turn.

Counter-flowing on 59 southbound.

I just sat back and started saying

a prayer in the back of my mind.

You are going the wrong way.

We were obviously passing

a lot of bystanders.

They probably couldn't believe

what they were seeing either.

If I was them, I probably would've

pulled my phone out too.

Hey, 420, where are they at?

Trucker-trailer-trailer-stop.

2322, he's getting back on the main lane

to counter-flow on the main lane.

There was no way to warn

the motorist ahead of time.

I couldn't get around the truck.

I just had this pit in my stomach

like, this is not going to end well.

Oh, my god, he's exiting

where people are turning up.

Oh, my goodness, get onto the car.

Get onto the car.

My heart was racing.

I was scared for the people's lives,

scared for my life.

Give me the channel.

Traffic is increasing.

It's so mad. He's in there.

I don't know if he's drunk,

high, or what. He is--

Oh, my goodness.

That driver is going to k*ll somebody

If he were to have a head-on collision,

it would definitely be a fatality.

No way anybody would survive that.

- Speed.

- Speedway Tracing, we're at 70 now.

I was just involved in a car accident

as a result of that 18-wheeler.

Oh, my god, it was actually surreal.

It was like a movie.

The guy was on the wrong side

of the highway.

Hurling towards us

on the wrong side of the highway.

It's on 59.

I just keep thinking to myself,

there must be a serious reason

he's trying to get away.

We ran it through dispatch at that time.

It did not come back as a stolen vehicle.

What has he done that's so bad?

We got her blowing up the 527 Spur.

He's headed into a heavily congested area,

the medical center at Houston.

- Is that him?

- Yeah, that's him.

Go, go, go!

Got to stay right on his a*s!

Wait, that's him up there.

Big 18-wheeler. You can't miss it.

I couldn't even imagine what's in his head

about how he's going to get away.

Maybe he's trying to buy some time

for something.

Medium traffic. Speed's about 60.

Every minute we're on the roadway is

a potential fatality in the works.

And I'm really limited in my options

of getting this truck stopped.

The only option I have is

to throw out some spike strips

to flatten his tires.

Let me pass you so I can get in front

- and spike him.

- Go, go, go.

In a normal pursuit,

we can take PIT maneuvers

and try to get them to stop.

On a big 18-wheeler,

I don't believe it can be done.

Watch those four apart.

Barricading the road

could have little effect.

They could just plow right through.

You know, their tires are

a little bit different.

But the spikes should be effective.

Southbound through Richmond.

At this point,

just try to keep up with the vehicle

and hopefully tame the situation

the best we can.

Now he starts heading

towards the museum district.

we're approaching

I had my two sons with me in my car.

I see out of my peripheral vision

an 18-wheeler,

which is not normal for that area.

As he was barreling towards the fountain,

I thought that his brakes had gone out.

My immediate reaction was

Oh, my God. What's happening?

Struck vehicles at Montrose and Main.

Clear, struck vehicles

at Montrose and Main.

I can see him in the driver's seat.

He seems fine. He's turning,

but obviously he's not fine

because he's running into and over cars.

I kind of just went into shock.

If I wouldn't have seen him,

100% he would have hit us.

There's no doubt in my mind.

Struck vehicles at Montrose and Main.

As I'm driving by,

I'm just praying that nobody's hurt.

I know he's not going to stop now.

- Taking Main Street.

- Clear, taking Main Street.

Rice University is right there.

You have college students,

you have doctors, you have patients

and all kinds of people

on this roadway we're traveling down.

Public safety became a priority

over the stop sticks.

23-20, we're crossing Sunset Boulevard.

He's counter-flowing over the median.

Crossing Sunset Boulevard.

My thought process at this point

in time is try to save lives.

Southwest on Main Street, speeds are 45.

I jump ahead of the truck

and I try to stop all the traffic

at the intersections.

I just want to make sure

he gets out of there

without hitting anybody else.

He surprised me once again.

He's counter-flowing on Main Street.

All I think when he jumps over

on the wrong side of the road

Clear

he's going to k*ll somebody.

- Eastbound on South Fraserwood.

- Clear.

Sometimes our tow truck drivers,

they hear our radio.

He's going eastbound on South Fraserwood.

They try to block intersections for us.

Approaching Almeida.

- 17.

- You don't see this everyday.

I remember going up as a kid watching

The World's Wildest Police Chases

and seeing 18-wheelers

being chased on there.

I never thought

it would happen in my career.

This guy's driving like crazy.

You're actually talking

to multiple officers

to get ahead of that vehicle,

predict where they're going

and then deploy the stop sticks

at the right time.

We got spikes at Chimney Rock,

you just watch out.

Number one and number two lanes.

I'm thinking, we're finally going

to get this guy stopped.

He jumped on the HOV lane,

the Katy Freeway tollway.

But Katy Freeway is so wide,

it's really hard to tell

the actions of the driver.

I don't know if that was

a good flight yet or not.

I hear the CWU down ahead at Elbert.

Stand back.

Looks like he's going over to Elbert now.

This is going to be huge for us

if we can get this deployed right.

Take out main lane.

Back on main lane.

Back on the main lane.

I don't think those were good spikes.

Searching first.

I was very disappointed

that it wasn't able to make that hit.

Take out main lane.

Back on main lane.

Back on main lane.

I'm thinking, man,

how long is this going to go on?

He could take that

all the way outside of the state.

One thing about police officers

no need to worry about us

giving up on you.

- All right.

- Searching on

We're now a multi-jurisdictional

county-wide pursuit.

That has stretched over

several counties now.

We were probably 10-plus cars

back at this point in time.

If other agencies are involved,

we try to allow them

to take the primary lead.

We're in someone else's county now,

and they're helping us.

I just remember looking out,

and it's nothing but a sea of red

and blue lights behind this ATV.

It was truly a phenomenon.

There were so many cops.

There's a lot of people filming

and posting it on social media,

speculating on what's happening.

It must be someone ill*gal in there.

Oh, my goodness.

We were thinking that too,

why else would someone run unless

they're doing something ill*gal?

Is he carrying weapons?

Is he carrying people

in the back of the truck?

Spike attempt.

After a successful strike,

that they're flat

within a mile is what we're hoping.

It usually takes an 18-wheeler

a bit longer to deflate the tires

because they have more air in them.

Speed line, yes. No front left tire.

How about the truck itself?

There are no front left tires.

Okay, finally, we're making headway.

But just one tire being deflated

did not stop this guy.

This chase is now in its second hour,

and the longer this chase goes on,

the more likely

somebody's going to get hurt.

We need to start looking at other options.

Can DPS sh**t this guy's tires out

or something?

This is getting bad.

The Texas Department

of Public Safety troopers,

some of them have the training

on how to sh**t out tires

and have that authorization

where most other agencies don't.

It's like an 80,000-pound lead m*ssile

putting all these lives in danger.

When you put someone's life

in danger, including the officers,

then officers have a right

to legally use force,

including deadly force.

Kroger's parking lot,

Kroger's parking lot.

I see that there's no front tires.

He's running on his rims.

Tear it open.

And so this is a good advantage for us.

There's also the chance

he may turn his wheel

and end up jack-knifing

or flipping the truck over.

Somebody texted me

and said DPS shot the tires out.

What?

How is it going now?

He had no tires on him, except

the rear tires on the trailer.

His front tires were gone.

- He's literally riding on the rim.

- He's riding on the rim.

His tires were all over the road.

They just spiked him again.

He's got lost another tire.

Somebody's gushing oil.

Once the tires are flattened,

that lowers the truck engine

to the level of the ground,

which caused the oil pan to drag

and eventually just tear off,

then all the oil drained from the engine.

I know now it's a matter of minutes

before he finally comes to a stop.

Looks like we might be

stopping felony stop.

Okay, yes, don't rush. Felony stop.

- We're going stop.

- Okay, clear.

Is there going to be a sh**t-out?

Is he going to start sh**ting

at the police?

I worry about the public being around.

Get him out! Get him out!

There's still a danger.

Getting the truck stopped

was the first part.

Getting the driver out without

anybody getting hurt is the second.

- We're fine. We're fine.

- Watch out!

We went up to assist the hands-on team

that was the arrest team.

21, we're taking him into custody.

Get him out, get him out.

We don't know if somebody's dead in here

or if he had someone at gunpoint

taken hostage.

Let go! Let go of your f*cking hands.

We train to use our firearms

to have them in a low ready position

in case we are presented

with some type of deadly force.

- Are you guys clear?

- Clear.

- Clear.

- Clear.

K9-421, driver detained.

Truck's clear.

After one of the longest pursuits

I've ever been in my life,

a two and a half hour pursuit, 163 miles,

it finally comes to an end.

All I can feel is such relief

that nobody was seriously hurt

and it's finally over.

- Thank you.

- Truck's clear.

As I walk up to the front of the cab,

I'm able to get my first glance

at the driver.

Here's this tall male, long hair,

and he just seems to be nonchalant

He just seems to be out of it

like he doesn't even care.

We're able to locate his wallet,

and in there was his driver's license

indicating that he's 51 years old

and his name

was Christopher John Lubowski.

- Christopher

- Christopher

Lubowski. The big Lubowski.

We still don't even know

what's in the cargo or the trailer,

and so now we have

to kind of switch gears.

Okay. Anybody got a test kit?

This one's gonna be a 9mm.

What else is he carrying?

There could be hidden compartments

with drugs, money, and stuff like that.

So now we have to search the back

to see what else he's hauling.

Do y'all know if he was hauling anything?

We don't know yet.

We're going to open it up right now.

Thankfully, he wasn't hauling people.

We did see some car parts, and

it wasn't a heavily loaded trailer.

- Gunnery County Sheriff's Office.

- Hi, I got a semi-truck,

and ABC News

just called me a little bit ago

and asked me if it was my truck,

that was involved in a high-speed chase.

I tried to call my driver,

can't get a hold of him.

Twenty-four cop cars, helicopters.

- I said, oh, my God.

- Okay.

You can't imagine him

being involved in a chase.

He's like a nicest guy in the world.

It doesn't make sense.

We pull out a presumptive field test kit

where you put a bit of the product

into this kit,

and it will give you a certain color

to indicate what it is.

- Oh, look-y there.

- We got a boy?

- We got a boy.

- It's a boy.

He turns blue, the color indicator

for methamphetamines.

We end up having to drive him

all the way back to Roman Forest

and start the arrest process.

So, I'm going to read you your rights

that you have, okay?

You have the right to remain silent.

Once he's in custody

and the adrenaline kind of calms down

and kind of get back to our normal

rhythm of breathing and such

now the other thought process come in.

The main question I'll ask is,

why did you run today?

I'm in drugs.

There you go.

Okay. It's kind of

a strange response,

but that's all we could get out of him.

Face me. Come.

And I'm looking at this man going,

what was so important that you had

to jeopardize so many lives?

Would you want to give me

a sample of your breath?

Yeah.

We gave him a preliminary breath test

just to see if there was

any alcohol in his system,

and it showed there was

no alcohol in his system.

- Are we good?

- Yes, sir.

One of the most frustrating things

in law enforcement is

figuring out the why.

And because Mr. Lubowski

refused to talk to us,

we may never know the true reason why.

It's important to me

that we got the conviction.

His decisions that day was

very reckless and dangerous.

I've been in law enforcement for 29 years

and I have been in numerous pursuits,

but this one is one

that I will never forget.

When you run from law enforcement

in the state of Texas,

every law enforcement officer

gets involved

and we're going to catch you.

You know what they say,

"Everything in Texas is bigger."

That includes our pursuits.

Indian River County is a small town

on the Treasure Coast.

It used to be a really quiet town,

but we're rapidly growing.

We do get a lot of tourism

from a lot of the hotels beachside.

My name is Deputy Alec Munni.

I'm a deputy sheriff

with the Indian River County

Sheriff's Office

assigned to road patrol.

I enjoy coming to work every day

not knowing what's going to happen.

I can have an extremely busy day.

I can have a day filled with action.

A typical day working is conducting

patrols of neighborhoods,

conducting traffic enforcement,

as well as answering calls for service.

Whether it be a disturbance,

trespassing, fraud, car accidents.

A man accused of stabbing a Jupiter doctor

at a pediatric office.

He's facing several charges

including attempted m*rder.

The doctor's condition is unknown.

All sorts of things

were going through my head.

Who knows what could have happened.

Maybe he was on his way

to his next victim.

What's the current location on it?

Last I heard he was passing Orange.

He stabbed someone at a pediatric office.

I had to get to the county line

as quick as possible

to intercept him.

I just knew we had to get this guy.

Do you have any update

on where the car might be?

10-1 we're advising just south

of state road 60, still northbound.

I sat in the median at the county line.

There was a lot of traffic coming in.

My eyes were starting to strain

just trying to spot specifically

this white four-door Lexus.

When I saw the suspect vehicle

I made eye contact

with the suspect.

It felt like he knew

that I was there for him.

I just knew that

it was going to be a chase.

I have eyes on the vehicle,

about the 144 southbound,

approaching northbound.

I raised speed,

approaching the bureau exit.

Discovered, do you have visual on it?

Yeah, he punched it.

I'm trying to catch up to him.

Because he stepped on it,

I knew 100% this was the suspect.

- How high were your speeds?

- Over 120 miles an hour.

I remember telling myself,

don't get into tunnel vision.

Tunnel vision is when you're

just so focused on a target

that everything else around you is

just a blur.

It's like looking at something

through a straw.

I was extremely nervous

for the way he was driving.

The public was at risk.

Suspect is now on top of the lane.

I'm responding to the call,

and they've told me what he's done.

I start making my way towards 95

and setting up my gear,

especially my r*fle,

ready to go if I need it,

on the passenger seat.

Come on. Get out of the way,

get out of the way.

It's nerve-racking when going there,

you try to keep calm,

and the motorists hold you back.

Approaching I-95.

So as I'm approaching I-95, I decide

to go on the oncoming traffic.

I'm ahead of you, let me know.

I'll make a U-turn.

I'll get in front of it,

do the road block, slow it down.

My logic was to drive on the shoulder

and be readily available

as it's coming to me.

The first line of officers

have been called in.

They were refueling at that one.

It took us about five minutes

to get airborne, which is quick.

This is probably one

of the more severe call-outs we had.

This suspect had just stabbed

a pediatrician.

We wanted to make sure

that we were going to catch this guy.

What's your mile marker?

My primary role as a tactical

flight deputy is being the navigator.

We're passing mile marker 149 northbound.

I am the ground unit's eye in the sky.

He's in the left lane,

over 120 miles an hour.

So as we're getting close to I-95,

I'm looking for the car

that is moving quicker

than the rest of the traffic.

All right guys, my radio now

is outside lane, I see the 151.

This guy thinks that he can outrun

the ground units,

but he was not going

to be able to outrun the helicopter.

I'm going for the rolling roadblock.

Okay.

The strategy

of the rolling roadblock would be

to basically box the vehicle in,

and then everybody simultaneously

starts to slow down in hopes

that the suspect doesn't want

to make contact

with the patrol vehicles

and comes to a stop.

He's coming up to the 155 now,

outside lane.

Right inside lane, inside lane,

still northbound.

Any minute he's going to be

right on top of me.

Then I spot the vehicle

in the outside lane

from my rear view mirror.

It's like, here we go,

I'm about to be involved in this.

The fun's about to start.

- He's right behind you.

- I got him.

It's approaching me, it's getting closer.

It's my time to do everything I can

to slow him down.

He just flew right by me.

I used my rear view mirror

and my side mirror

to stay in front of the car.

You see me kind of swerving.

That's when you see us trying

to box him in, but it's way too late.

That's when he gets around me.

All right, just past the exit,

stand by inside lane.

We're going to need sticks,

he's not going to stop.

Trying to have sticks at the 153.

We need to clear the bridge,

we're going to have stops

on the other side.

Public safety is our number one priority.

We need to get that suspect isolated

from the rest of the traffic

on the interstate.

Up ahead, the deputies are starting

to conduct our roadblock.

Stop!

And beyond the roadblock,

we can safely use stop sticks.

From 115

You cover

from what my sticks don't to back.

Passing the

Be ready for him

to go around our trucks, though.

You know what I'm saying?

Heads up, guys, traffic is slowing down.

We're in the middle of a lane,

outside lane now.

We're going to the left.

As we're doing the roadblock,

we don't want to put the citizens at risk.

We don't want this to become deadly,

so we try to give the suspect

some type of avenue of exit,

which was the shoulder.

He is just driving so fast,

weaving in and out,

that the concern becomes,

is he going to end up losing control

and hitting a stopped vehicle?

Continue past the bridge.

- See him? He's coming.

- He's going to the I-95.

We just tried to hit six.

He continues on the outside lane.

We were able to pull the stop sticks

in front of the vehicle.

I believe it was a successful hit

on the stop sticks.

He's in the middle lane.

No traffic ahead. It's clear ahead.

Now it's just wait and see what he does.

Back left tires out. It's gone.

That gives me the ability

to close the distance on him.

He's slowing down.

Coming up to the bend on the I-95.

Okay, coming up.

He is slowing down significantly.

158. Left lane.

I'm getting ahead. I'm getting ahead.

Trying to cut into the median.

He'll get stuck. He's in the water.

I thought he would be completely

disabled in the median

just from the amount of water.

Okay, this is the end.

There is no way his sedan

is going to be able to make it

out of that muddy, grassy ditch,

especially with a tire.

I remember his car kept inching,

inching, itching.

This is the perfect opportunity.

He's turning.

I'm able to attempt a PIT.

He made it.

He might make it through,

guys, if he can get across.

Southbound.

It was not successful, unfortunately.

The vehicle is coming apart

from the stop sticks

and the median it's taking

from the high speeds.

He's southbound on the outside shoulder

on I-95 southbound.

Another PIT. He's down the wire.

At that point, I just attempt another PI

to stop him from being able

to travel any further.

Another PIT.

Get in the car now!

Put your f*cking hands up!

We're in pursuit of traffic.

Just information, he is armed.

Subject on the ground. Stand by.

They say he's possibly armed.

My main concern is to get behind cover

just in case he does have a knife

because he stabbed somebody.

But we don't know if he's got a firearm.

Having many officers there is

extremely important.

Can we get a unit on P.J.'s

passenger side with a long r*fle?

Where's he at?

That way we have a takedown team.

We have a team keeping eyes on the car.

Hey, I got him over here.

Stand up! Hands up! Face away!

Take two steps to your left!

Left! Left! Left! Left!

If anybody has a shield,

bring your shield up. Whoever we got.

You don't know what he's going

to try to pull on you.

Is he going to fight?

What's his next plan? You never know.

Now back up to us, all right?

Go down on your knees.

Put your hands on top of your head.

Do you have one in custody or two?

- You got anything else?

- No, sir.

I'll keep doing this incident.

I'll tell him.

I got shield. Ready?

You get commands?

We're going to move up. Guys,

flip them so they stay together.

- Ready?

- Move up.

Hey, cover that back window.

Searching that vehicle, we're looking

for potential weapons, drugs,

or sometimes even other people.

Anybody else in the vehicle,

come out with your hands up!

Suitcase! Clear!

The risk to human life is now over.

No citizens got hurt,

the suspect didn't get hurt,

and no officers got hurt.

A man accused of stabbing

a Jupiter doctor is now in custody,

but he had lead earlier in the day

Indian River County deputies

on a high-speed chase.

It was all caught on camera.

95.

I had made a promise to myself that day

that I was not going

to let this guy get away.

One of the main reasons

I became a deputy was

to get these guys off the street.

If you plan on doing anything like this

and come into Indian River County,

you will get caught.