TERRELL, Texas — An alleged drunk driver led Terrell, Kaufman County, and state police on a high-speed pursuit early Sunday morning before ending in a violent rollover crash in Van Zandt County.
TERRELL, Texas — An alleged drunk driver led Terrell, Kaufman County, and state police on a high-speed pursuit early Sunday morning before ending in a violent rollover crash in Van Zandt County.
A Terrell Police Department officer was patrolling in the area of 1700 block of south State Highway 34, at approximately 12:24 a.m., when he observed a silver Subaru exit the Circle K parking lot at a high rate of speed, cross three lanes of traffic on SH 34, and enter eastbound Interstate 20, according to Terrell Police Department Captain A.D. Sansom.
The police officer attempted a traffic stop on the vehicle but it continued to flee eastbound at speeds in excess of 110 miles an hour.
The Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers, and a DPS helicopter joined the pursuit as it entered Van Zandt County.
Law enforcement attempted several times to set spike strips in an effort to stop the vehicle but were unable to due to traffic conditions.
“The suspect vehicle was reaching speeds of between 110 and 120 miles per hour when the driver abruptly took the 521 exit,” stated Sansom. “The officer took the 521 exit when he observed the Subaru leave the roadway and began to spin out of control. The Subaru then began to flip several times, leaving a large cloud of dirt and smoke in the air.”
The driver, identified as 43-year-old Richarht Wolter of Terrell, Texas, was taken into custody without further incident. Wolter was later transported to Trinity Mother Frances Hospital in Tyler, Texas, due to serious internal injuries from the crash.
“Wolter advised that he ran from police because he did not have a driver license and he had been drinking,” Sansom said.
Sansom says charges for evading arrest or detention with a vehicle and driving while intoxicated will be filed against Wolter at-large due to his hospitalization. Sansom says Wolter remains hospitalized and investigators will be seeking a subpoena for Wolter’s blood results.
The crash was investigated by DPS troopers out of the Canton Office. The Canton Fire Department and Champion EMS responded to the rollover crash.
