‘Way over the top.’ Texas DPS pursuit in El Paso hits 115 mph ending in crash, arrest

A suspected migrant smuggler running from Texas state troopers crashed into an El Paso police car in a wild, dangerous crosstown chase topping 115 mph before driving over an embankment, authorities said.

“This is way, way over the top,” commented Magistrate Judge Antonio Aun last week before denying a request by a public defense attorney to lower the bond amount for the accused driver, Christopher Lopez.

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Lopez, 25, is accused of driving a white Jeep SUV on a 33-mile chase from the Upper Valley to the area of Horizon Boulevard. He allegedly ran red lights, struck other vehicles and rushed through an unrelated freeway crash scene that had shut down Interstate 10, the Texas Department of Public Safety and a state prosecutor said.

About 10:45 p.m. on Nov. 19, a Texas DPS special agent saw a suspected migrant smuggling attempt when a Jeep with paper license plates stopped and group in dark clothes ran out of the desert and got into the SUV, Assistant District Attorney Jessica Lamberth said at a teleconference bond hearing for Lopez on Thursday, Nov. 21.

Texas DPS pursuit runs from Upper Valley to Horizon area

When a state trooper pulled up behind the vehicle at a stop light, the Jeep ran the red light near Artcraft Road and Doniphan Drive in the Upper Valley, Lamberth said. The trooper attempted a traffic stop but the driver refused to stop.

In a summary of the pursuit given by Lamberth:

∎ The .Jeep got on an I-10 service road. There was heavy traffic. So, the Jeep went off-road into a construction area, got back on the road, where traffic was stopped and crashed into an 18-wheeler and a concrete construction barrier.

∎ The Jeep continued on residential side streets at speeds up to 100 mph, got on North Mesa Street and ran a red light at an intersection, where it T-boned an El Paso police patrol car turning left with two officers onboard. The police car was not involved in the pursuit. An officer suffered an elbow injury.

∎ The chase went on as the Jeep entered I-10 eastbound, exited at Executive Center Boulevard and stopped as six to eight people who had been in the SUV ran into the desert. The Jeep sped away and returned to the interstate reaching speeds over 115 mph.

∎ The freeway was shut down due to an unrelated accident with police diverting traffic. The Jeep ignored traffic cones and drove through the active crash scene. It continued going over 115 mph and turned off all its lights.

∎ The Jeep eventually exited the freeway by driving over a median near Horizon Boulevard. The SUV went onto a dirt road before going over an embankment and becoming immobilized. The driver ran on foot into the desert, but aircraft followed him using a spotlight and Lopez was arrested.

Lopez has no criminal record and is an unemployed U.S. citizen who resides with his mother on Coker Road in Socorro, public defense attorney Adam Loving said at the hearing.

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Lopez was arrested by Texas DPS Criminal Investigations Division special agents on felony charges of evading arrest in a vehicle and assault of a public servant. According to El Paso County Jail records, Lopez was released from jail on a $60,000 bond on Nov. 21. An investigation continues.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Texas DPS pursuit hits 115 mph, ends in crash, arrest in El Paso County

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