HOUSTON – A father fleeing from officers loses control of his SUV, which rolls over, and deputies said his children and makeshift explosives were inside.
The incident began around 8:55 p.m. Thursday when Harris County Precinct 2 received a phone call from a frightened woman at an apartment complex on Blackhawk.
The woman told authorities her husband, Joseph Floyd Bostick, 37, was threatening her. The two had a fight earlier in the evening, which led her to pack her bags and head over to a friend's apartment. According to investigators, the husband followed her and began banging on the door.
"He hit her. He kicked her out, making her go home and stuff. He wanted her to get in the car with him last night. She wouldn't let him. I said, 'Don't go with him. You go with him, you're dead,'" said the friend, who did not want to be identified.
When deputies arrived, they spotted Bostick about a block away sitting in his SUV. The man's 3-year-old and 7-year-old children were in the back seat.
"He had the kids with him when his wife was at the location. They originally live in Deer Park and he brought the kids with him to pick up his wife," said Sgt. Zerick Guinn with Harris County Precinct 2.
As a patrol car drove toward him, Bostick accelerated and tried to hit the deputy, officials said. The suspect also stuck a gun out the window and fired four or five times at the deputy, according to investigators.
The deputy was not hit and chased him, but lost the vehicle.
A short time later, a Harris County Precinct 8 deputy spotted the SUV and chased Bostick for 20 minutes. That's when officials said Bostick lost control of his vehicle on the Gulf Freeway at Clear Lake City Boulevard, rolled over and crashed into a speed limit sign.
The children were not hurt and were returned to their mother.
Authorities said they found makeshift explosives and firearms inside the SUV.
Bostick was charged with aggravated assault against a public servant and endangering a child.