Citizens Call, High Speed Chase Net ATM Recovery

A call from a citizen reporting a suspicious vehicle seen at My Credit Union at 5:43 a.m. Sunday morning resulted in the arrest of two suspects and the recovery of $22,000 in cash.

Darryl K. Brown, 43, of Terrell, Roderick LaFleur, 42, of Balch Springs, were taken into custody by the Van Zandt County Sheriff’s office after a high-speed pursuit that reached speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.

Wills Point police officer J.D. Morris responded to the initial call, and witnessed a vehicle leaving the parking lot of the credit union. The vehicle traveled south on FM 2965, and Morris pursued, also reporting the fleeing vehicles to other law enforcement agencies.

A Van Zandt County Sheriff’s deputy met the fleeing vehicle, and joined the chase at Interstate 20 and FM 2965. The vehicle exited onto westbound I 20 and the Department of Public Safety and a Dallas Police Department helicopter joined the pursuit.

The vehicle exited I 20 near the 503-mile marker, at Wilson Road in Terrell, and drove into a pasture. The sheriff’s deputy followed the vehicle into the pasture in close pursuit.

Both vehicles struck a gully hidden by high grass. The sheriff’s department vehicle was totaled, with the deputy receiving minor injuries, while the suspect vehicle continued approximately another 100 yards.

Both suspects were taken into custody after trying to flee on foot. The vehicle had been reported as stolen by the Terrell Police Department.

"This was plain, good police work in a combined effort by multiple agencies," said Wills Point Police Chief, Scott Johnson. "Sometimes thats what it takes to make an arrest of this kind."

"Wills Point did an excellent job of responding quickly, getting the proper information and getting that information out to other law enforcement agencies," said Van Zandt County Sheriff Pat Burnett.

"This will grow into a multi-jurisdictional case," Burnett said, adding that the Dallas Police Department and the Secret Service are involved in what could be a growing case.

"It’s big," Burnett added. "We believe this arrest will clear a lot of other crimes in a number of other jurisdictions."

"It’s unfortunate that we lost a vehicle in the process, but a car is a tool, and to make an arrest of this magnitude is worth it."

One of the crimes likely to be cleared would be the robbery of the Precinct 3 building on Highway 64 in Wills Point. Police recovered police radios recently stolen from that location. A truck stolen during the same incident was recovered from another attempted ATM theft in Greenville.

The My Credit Union ATM was also robbed on June 16 of this year, though nothing specific has linked Brown or LaFleur to that incident at this time. In the previous incident, cash was removed from the ATM. On Sunday morning, unable to remove the cash from the new machine, the suspects attached a chain to it and jerked it out with the vehicle, and placed the entire ATM in the back seat of the vehicle.

Brown and LaFleur were arraigned by Judge Beverly Pierson Monday morning on charges of evading arrest by vehicle, and felony theft of $20,000-$100,000. Both are being held in the Van Zandt County jail on a $150,000 bond, with arraignment on criminal mischief charges for damage to a building of $20,000-$100,000 pending on Tuesday.