Two states….sparks flying… police chase a man down interstate five until finally in a hail of bean bags..the driver surrenders as the sun comes up.
NBC 5 catches it all on tape.
This is the second such chase we’ve caught with our cameras…
It brings up the question are police chases on the rise
Edward Clement is running on rims when even spike strips can’t stop him…
He outruns police for roughly 80 miles from Spring Street in Medford…
“Basically you have a 4,000 lb bullet traveling down the road,” says Lt. Mike Budreau with Medford Police, “that could injure passers-by.”
To Weed, California where he holds police at bay for hours.
Budreau continues, “Something was going on in his mind that thought he needed to run from police.”
Police say Clement showed a knife, waving it around violently.
That’s when the bean bags came out firing rounds into his truck.
Police and canine units surround him hoping for a peaceful ending, which eventually came four hours after it began. Clement faces some serious charges.
“The eluding took place in 2 jurisdictions,” comments Budreau, “He could potentially be held accountable for the same crime in 2 different counties.”
This isn’t the first time NBC 5 News caught a stand off on tape.
In February a high speed chase involving a stolen truck. This time spike strips send the driver out of control -crashing into a ditch.
Budreau says these pursuits are costly, “It takes several officers to it’s taxing on our resources, but it’s not cheap.”
So far this year Medford police have seen twelve police pursuits. That’s up from nine this same time last year. Crime is up and with it police pursuits.
“This year we’re at an 8% increase and pursuits are rising with it. It goes hand in hand with criminal activity,” remarks Budreau.
While no one has a handle on how much this weekend’s chase cost police in time or money yet… they know it took four different agencies to stop Clement’s morning ride.
Clement has a record for police pursuits: he’s currently on probation for eluding in 2011. Tonight sits in a Siskiyou County cell where he’ll face charges, and then come back to Medford to face charges once more.
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