Stolen Candy Leads to 120 MPH Chase Through 3 East Texas Counties
Tuesday night, a high-speed pursuit reaching speeds of 120 mph finally came to an end in Wells, Texas after coursing through Nacogdoches, Angelina, and finally the southern tip of Cherokee County. Two of the three suspects reportedly stole candy from a store in Nacogdoches before the chase began.
According to a report from the Nacogdoches County Sheriff’s Office, two Angelina County residents were arrested and a third is being sought. Two passengers, Kobe Dwayne Clark and Tristan Coutee, both 19, were taken into custody and charged with Class A misdemeanors for evading arrest on foot. Coutee was also charged with possession of marijuana after a small bag of the substance was found on him during his arrest.
At 17 years old, the driver who fled from law enforcement is a minor. He is wanted for evading arrest and another felony warrant. He is described as a black male who is 5 feet, 9 inches tall weighing 165lbs, with brown eyes and short, curly black hair.
The pursuit began around 9 p.m. Tuesday, February 15 when Nacogdoches Police began pursuing a black Ford Fusion in the 1200 block of South Street at which time the driver sped up reaching speeds up to 120 mph as he fled southward past the city limits. At that point, a Nacogdoches County Sheriff's Deputy who was posted in the 6300 block of U.S. 59 saw the vehicle speed by his location and took over the pursuit. The chase down Highway 59 reached speeds of 100 mph.
Lufkin Police and the Angelina County Sheriff’s Office were notified that the suspect vehicle was headed into Angelina County. The driver turned west onto FM 2021, where he ran a stop sign and sped northbound onto U.S. 69. State troopers joined the pursuit, which continued into Cherokee County, where the vehicle turned off the highway into a residential area.
The driver, Coutee, and Clark all bailed out of the vehicle in front of a home on Homer Street in Wells and all three suspects fled into thick woods nearby. Clark was taken into custody a short time later after being spotted behind a store a short distance away on U.S. 69, at which point he identified the 17-year-old driver and told law enforcement two of the people in the vehicle had stolen candy from a store in Nacogdoches. He described the third passenger, Coutee, who was detained and identified by law enforcement at another nearby location.
An inventory of the vehicle, which did not belong to either of the three suspects, turned up candy, a .40-caliber handgun and ammunition, and a .22-caliber rifle. The vehicle’s owner claimed the .22 rifle.
The investigation into the incident is ongoing and additional charges are possible.