KEMP, Texas — Two Dallas men were arrested over the weekend after allegedly burglarizing the Kemp Family Pharmacy and making off with thousands of prescription pills, mostly narcotics, according to police.
KEMP, Texas — Two Dallas men were arrested over the weekend after allegedly burglarizing the Kemp Family Pharmacy and making off with thousands of prescription pills, mostly narcotics, according to police.
The pair wouldn't make it far, though, with one captured following a high-speed police pursuit and the other while attempting to hitchhike his way back to Dallas while carrying thousands of prescription pills.
At approximately 3:20 a.m. on Saturday, June 3, 2017, the Kemp Police Department was dispatched to the Kemp Family Pharmacy, located in the 1200 block of South Elm Street, in reference to an activated alarm, Kemp Police Department Interim Chief James Cook told inForney.com.
Cook credits a cooperative effort between the Kemp Police Department, Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office, and the Kaufman Police Department in the capture of the two individuals.
Kemp Police Department Police Officer J. Ochoa just two blocks away when he received the alarm dispatch, according to Cook. Upon arrival, Ochoa observed a black Nissan Sentra fleeing the pharmacy parking lot, at a high rate of speed, and without the use of the vehicle’s headlights.
The vehicle fled east on Elm Street towards State Highway (SH) 274 where it disregarded a red light and continued north towards U.S. Highway 175.
Ochoa activated his emergency lights in an attempt to stop the vehicle.
“The driver refused [to stop] and continued north on SH 274 to the intersection of SH 274 and US HWY 175, where the driver disregarded two stop signs and turned left onto the US 175 on-ramp,” stated Cook. “Ochoa contacted Kaufman County Sheriff’s Department Dispatch, advised that the driver was not stopping and he was in pursuit of the vehicle.”
The driver fled westbound on U.S. Highway 175 towards Kaufman, Texas, with speeds reaching approximately 120 miles per hour. Ochoa was joined in the pursuit by Kaufman County Sheriff’s deputies and Kemp Police Department Assistant Chief Brad Delaughter.
Police Officers with the Kaufman Police Department and deputies with the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office were able to successfully deploy spike strips ahead of the pursuit on U.S. Highway 175.
The suspect’s vehicle left the roadway near the intersection of Farm-to-Market (FM) 1388 in Kaufman where the suspect fled on foot, according to Cook. He was captured minutes later in a nearby field.
The suspect, identified as 26-year-old John Chambers of Dallas, Texas, was transported to Texas Health Resources Presbyterian Hospital in Kaufman where he was treated and released into police custody. Chambers was booked into the Kaufman County Jail and charged with evading arrest or detention in a vehicle and burglary of a building. He was released Sunday night after posting bonds totaling $12,500.
Following Chambers’ arrest, Cook says information was received which indicated there were multiple suspects involved in the burglary at Kemp Family Pharmacy.
An observant tow truck driver, en route to tow the vehicle Chambers fled in, notified law enforcement of a person hitchhiking on westbound U.S. Highway 175.
That person, identified as 22-year-old Mark Badger of Dallas, Texas, was located by Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office deputies and found to be in possession of thousands of prescription pills, mostly narcotics, according to Cook. Badger is being held at the Kaufman County Jail on bonds totaling $12,500 on charges for burglary of a building and possession of a controlled substance in penalty group 1 greater than or equal to one gram and less than four grams.
The case remains under investigation and Cook says further charges are pending.
Cook says the two were in the pharmacy for approximately four minutes as the meticulously selected the medications they intended to steal.
"I would like to thank the Kaufman Police Department and the Kaufman County Sheriff's Department for their relentless support of the Kemp Police Department,” stated Cook. “A cooperative effort between Kemp Police, Kaufman County Sheriff's Department and Kaufman Police demonstrated the efficiency of Law Enforcement in the recent capture of two burglars.”
