Police chase in northeast Austin goes 24 miles, causes two crashes: affidavit
AUSTIN, Texas - A now viral video, posted to TikTok by Jason Amburgey, shows the moment a pickup truck fleeing from police crashed into a car on Cameron Road in Northeast Austin and kept going. Now, court documents reveal that it was just one of several frightening moments during a 24-mile, high-speed chase across Northeast Austin on June 12.
"It’s crazy, going over curbs like that," said John Martinez, who works in the area. "I wouldn’t think I would see anything like that right here."
"It goes to highlight the extremely dynamic situations that officers deal with," said Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock.
According to an arrest affidavit, around 11 a.m., plainclothes Austin Police officers were staking out a house on Pyegrave Place near Yager Lane, trying to track down fugitive Brandon Day, 31, who had several felony warrants. Then, Day’s girlfriend, Tasha Couvreur, who was also wanted by police, showed up in a stolen white pickup truck. After attaching a trailer to the truck, the couple took off.
The affidavit says fully-marked DPS troopers tried to pull the truck over, but it sped away, crashing into a car at East Rundberg Lane and the I-35 service road. That crash left a four-year-old child with minor injuries. Austin Police patrol officers responded to that scene.
"We allow the initial officers to continue doing what they're doing, but we make sure they know, ‘hey, we're going to go check on these folks,'" said Bullock.
The truck kept going, with law enforcement in pursuit, cutting across the grass at Cameron Road and Ferguson Lane, before crashing into a second car at that intersection, as seen in the TikTok video. The pickup truck then continued down the wrong side of the road.
Finally, the couple ditched the vehicle on nearby Glenhill Road, according to the affidavit. Austin police arrested Couvreur down the block. Day was arrested hours later.
"Get them off the street. Glad they got caught," said Hernandez.
Since he was driving, Day faces a slew of charges, including an accident involving injury, deadly conduct and aggravated assault. Both Day and Couvreur are charged with being in possession of a stolen vehicle.
"I think this is a symptom of the problems that we're dealing with, with a lack of accountability and prosecution," said Bullock. You get people who are more emboldened."
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FOX 7 spoke with Bullock about the Austin Police Department’s policy when it comes to potentially risky chases.
"Austin [Police], we have a pretty sound pursuit policy that takes into consideration public safety. And it puts in balance what's worth pursuing, and then what ultimately is a risk to the public," said Bullock. "But other agencies may have different policies."
In this case, DPS was also heavily involved in the pursuit.
"It’s difficult to say whether we would have continued as DPS did or not, just because we're looking at a very short clip and not seeing it from the officer's perspective," said Bullock.
Day is being held at the Travis County Jail on nearly $125,000 bond. Courvuer has since been released.
FOX 7 reached out to DPS for more information, but they referred us to Austin police.