An unnamed Albuquerque car wash owner watched suspect Christopher Chase shoot police officer Matthew Hannum in the leg and steal his patrol car, reports KKOB Channel 4. But the story gets hairier. Instead of standing by and calling 911, the car wash owner gave Chase a chase, staying on the suspect’s tail.
According to KKOB reporter Maria Guerrero, Chase came up to a customer, told them to call 911 and tell them he was armed and waiting for police. Officer Hannum showed up and was the first unlucky recipient of one of Chase’s bullets, receiving a slug in the leg, whereupon suspect Chase jumped into the police cruiser and headed off, lights flashing.
[1]The car wash owner, having witnessed this insane exchange, wasted no time in hopping into his 2003 C5 Corvette and following the suspect.
Initially, it was a low-speed chase prior to the suspect pulling over in a crowded intersection and taking the time to fire off more bullets at an approaching police cruiser. Then things quickly turned dangerous as Chase put the pedal to the firewall and took the stolen cruiser up over 100 miles per hour.
The entire time, the car wash owner stayed on the phone with 911 to give the operator a precise location, and finally peeled off when the Albuquerque Police Department was able to catch up and finally apprehend the suspect. The eventual toll was four officers injured by the suspect. Stay classy, Albuquerque.
This business owner stood up and did the right thing in our opinion; even after being informed by the 911 operator that he was breaking the law by following the suspect he continued to shadow him until the authorities could take over. A potentially deadly proposition, but that didn’t seem to come into the equation. What would you do in this situation?