Smart Police Officers Plus Pepper Spray Equal Bad Guys Can’t Escape

In Angleton, Texas a man tried to escape from police officers after a “road rage” incident. When the man attempted to back up over the officers with his vehicle, his window was broken and he was subdued through the use of pepper spray.

A woman called police to the scene. The man, she stated, had assaulted her and then left the area. She followed him and used her cell phone to call for assistance. With police following the man kept driving until he crashed into his own yard.

When officers caught up with the man he kept “stopping in the middle of the road and going in reverse, acting like he was trying to back into the officers” reported one of the responding policemen. After several attempts to control the situation, officers broke the driver’s window and applied pepper spray. The man in question quickly surrendered to police.

No officers were hurt in the incident, and the degree of injuries to the woman is unknown. The man was treated by EMS for the effects of the pepper spray and then taken into custody.

Charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and evading arrest, the suspect is out on bail for now.

Diffusing a Dangerous Situation
We all know how dangerous a car can be in a high speed chase, but rarely think of one as a hazard when driven slowly. For the officers responding to the scene of this situation it was clear that the vehicle could easily be used to cause serious harm or death.

Rather than taking unnecessary risks and trying to disable the car in some fashion, they wisely chose to use their pepper spray. The spray sufficiently debilitated the suspect, resulting in improved compliance with police requests.

Pepper spray allowed officers to subdue their assailant, prevent escape and avoid the use of firearms.