HOUSTON — A stolen U-Haul went up in flames after a driver led police on a miles-long chase in west Houston early Wednesday morning, according to the Houston Police Department.
This happened on the Westpark Tollway service road at Dairy Ashford. Houston Transtar cameras caught the end of the chase where the U-Haul truck caught fire.
Houston police said this started when officers responded to a call that someone driving a U-Haul crashed into a vehicle and started firing shots into the car he smashed into before taking off.
Police spotted the stolen U-Haul at about 1 a.m. When officers tried to stop the driver, they said he kept going leading officers on a slow chase all over the Westpark Drive area.
Police threw down spike strips and hit most of the tires on the U-Haul. However, the driver just kept going at a slow speed, police said. Officers were eventually able to block him in at the intersection of Alief Clodine and South Dairy Ashford.
Video below shows the end of the chase where the U-Haul caught fire:
That is when police said the driver started spinning the rear tires of the U-Haul trying to escape. One of the tires caught fire and spread to the rest of the truck.
Officers ended up smashing one of the windows, and the driver got out on his own, police said. The driver of the stolen U-Haul was arrested at the scene at about 3 a.m.
Police said at one point the driver of the U-Haul threw hypodermic needles out of the window during the chase.
Police said no other injuries were reported.
The driver faces felony evading arrest, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and possibly drug possession.