By ESTEVAN MEDRANO
Port Isabel-South Padre Press
press@portisabelsouthpadre.com
January 1, 2015
A dangerous, multi-city vehicle pursuit involved a driver speeding over 100 mph down the wrong direction of the Queen Isabella Causeway Christmas morning.
A South Padre Island police officer attempted to stop a vehicle heading southbound on the 5600 block of Gulf Boulevard at approximately 2:20 a.m. on December 25. Port Isabel police were dispatched for assistance when the vehicle sped off over the causeway and pursued the vehicle into Laguna Vista. The elongated pursuit resulted in the driver, who was allegedly intoxicated, crashing into a fence in Bayview, damaging the property owner’s water meter. The driver, Christian Enrique Lopez, and both passengers, Blas Ornelas and Luis Garcia, fled on foot. The two passengers were quickly apprehended by officers and the driver was located by Cameron County Sheriff’s deputies at a nearby Stripes gas station and placed under arrest.
Chief of the Port Isabel Police Department Gualberto Gonzalez commented on the dangerous incident:
“We assisted [the South Padre Island Police] with the pursuit and tried to turn around pursue the driver, but we lost him right away because he got on the bridge. He got on the bridge and flew by on the wrong wide of the lane driving over 100 miles an hour. We finally brought him down in Bayview about two miles from Laguna Vista. These guys were from San Benito. One of my officers was at the foot of the bridge as he was coming down and saw he wasn’t stopping. Thank God the driver missed him, but he flew right by him. It was a scary situation for the officer.”
In addition to the pursuit charges and property damage, all subjects were charged with public intoxication. The vehicle was impounded and the three subjects are currently in custody.
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