Driver surrenders after police chase, standoff with officers in SE Houston

2 nearby schools on lockdown

HOUSTON – A driver who led police on a chase surrendered Thursday afternoon following a standoff in a southeast Houston neighborhood.

The chase started when an officer tried to pull over the car for an expired tag near Reed Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard. The driver was reportedly going the wrong way on Cullen Boulevard. 

SKY 2 showed police vehicles chasing the silver sedan with its back bumper hanging off. The driver sped through residential neighborhoods, including turning into a church parking lot. The man accused of shooting and killing a Harris County deputy was expected , but did not appear, in a downtown Houston courtroom Wednesday.

Police pursued the vehicle for about 30 minutes before the suspect stopped in a neighborhood on Carlton Drive and South Acres Way. Several police vehicles surrounded the car and drew their weapons. 

"He would not come out. Would not acknowledge us,” said Sgt. James Holcomb of the Houston Police Department.  “We tried to get him to stick his cell phone out the  window to call us. Step on, pump his brakes.  Anything to say he's hearing us.  He wouldn't."

Holcomb said SWAT was called to the scene. While SWAT was in route, the suspect came out. He said the suspect rolled down the car window, stuck his hand out and opened the door. Holcomb said the suspect followed officers' orders as approached them. 

Two schools went into lockdown during the standoff. Woodson Leadership Academy on Southview Street was the first to go into lockdown followed by Codwell Elementary on Brisbane Street. Both schools were only hundreds of feet away from the standoff.

The suspect was in a standoff with police for about hour before stepping out of the car. SKY 2 showed the driver walking backward from the vehicle with his hands behind his head. He was immediately arrested and taken into custody.

Police said no one was hurt and no shots were fired.  They said he asked to talk with his mother.  

Mary Bass identified the driver as her son, Roderick Marshall. 

She said he had a criminal and drug history.  She said she gave him $300 last night and he promised to “do the right thing.” 

However she said this morning, he came back to her home and she would not allow him inside because she believed he was on drugs.  

"I just wouldn't let him in the house because when he's on that stuff he tears up my place," Bass said. "I had my billy stick waiting in case he broke on in the house. I still love him and that's still my child.  But if he do wrong he just gonna have to pay.  But I still love him."