HOUSTON – A theft at an Auto Zone in southwest Houston Wednesday led to a wild chase along Highway 59.
A clerk at the automotive store in the 1800 block of Gessner told police that around midnight a man stole a shopping cart full of merchandise. The employee said the man shoved the clerk, loaded his car and even hit the clerk as the thief drove away.
Police said the man almost crashed into a patrol car on the way out of the store parking lot and they followed him.
“Officers observed a pistol on the dash of the vehicle so they set up a felony stop and the suspect took off again, where he struck another vehicle and stopped again," a Houston Police Department officer said.
The man's car sat outside the Crown Plaza on the Southwest Freeway near Gessner with shredded tires after he hit spike strips, police said.
Police said the man tried to run, but officers tackled him and took him away in an ambulance.
According to police, the man told paramedics it was "something to do" as he was being treated for injuries after the chase.
He will face several charges, including robbery and felony evading arrest.
