A North Texas man is out of jail after leading police on a chase that ended after he slammed through a fence and sped onto a cow pasture earlier this month.
Jose Gomez was caught by an officer breaking into vehicles the night of Jan. 5, a source at the Balch Springs Police Department familiar with the investigation said.
He sped away in his own vehicle and prompted a police chase through at least two cities.
A Department of Public Safety chopper was called in to help track the action. Night-vision video from the chopper’s camera was released to NBCDFW Tuesday under the Texas Public Information Act. In the video, Gomez can be seen traveling through rural areas of Seagoville and Balch Springs while the DPS chopper pilots call the play-by-play to the officers on the ground.
At one point, troopers request spike strips from the Dallas County Sheriff’s Office, but they don’t come soon enough.
The video shows Gomez slamming through a fence and onto a cow pasture near the 700 block of Stark Street in Balch Springs. The suspect briefly herds some cattle with his SUV, narrowly missing several cows.
He then travels though the dark pasture, swerving to avoid hitting trees. But there are too many to avoid.
“He just center-punched a tree,” the DPS pilot said. Gomez then backs up and turns left to find a new route away from officers, but he quickly slams into a second tree.
Troopers can be heard in the DPS chopper laughing at Gomez’s misfortune.
The video shows Balch Springs police officers swarm in with guns drawn, break his driver’s side window and arrest him. He was the only person inside the vehicle.
Gomez was booked into the Dallas County Jail later that night. He has since bonded out of jail and is awaiting trial, according to jail records.
