Law enforcement searching for possibly armed suspect who ran into woods after police chase

OWASSO, Okla. — A high-speed chase ended with a man getting away in a wooded area in Owasso.

Three agencies pulled out all the stops to catch the man and said he could be armed and dangerous.

FOX23 caught up with a man who said the initial chase almost caused him to crash.

An apartment complex near East 86th Street North and North Mingo Road is where a wanted auto theft suspect finally pulled over.

“Nobody can be in that much trouble. I mean he is in trouble now,” said Robert Hendrix, who witnessed the chase.

In Tulsa Police’s eyes, he was in enough trouble to chase him into a field where they said he ran and took cover.

“It’s an auto theft suspect so it’s not just your run-of-the-mill suspect who steals a car, you know, running into the gas station. He’s involved in some pretty hefty crimes. I’m not ready to release his name just yet because we are still working the case,” Tulsa Police Captain Richard Meulenberg said.

Hendrix saw the suspect before he ditched his car and said he looked like he was going 90 MPH.

Hendrix said he was driving down Mingo when the suspect narrowly missed him.

“I don’t know what he did, but when you put people’s lives like that in danger. I drove for UPS for 26 years and never saw anything quite that dangerous,” Hendrix said.

A mix of Owasso Police, Tulsa Police, U.S. Marshals, a TPD helicopter, and K9s all searched the heavily wooded area, which is not easy for anyone or animal to get through.

Meulenberg gave FOX23 what details he could about the suspect.

“We don’t think the general public is in danger. We can’t guarantee he is not unarmed. We can’t guarantee he is armed. We have some reason to believe he might be armed, but we didn’t see a gun ourselves yet. He is an auto theft suspect in the area, he’s a Black male, about 6-feet tall,” Meulenberg said.

Hendrix counts himself lucky that he didn’t get hit.

“He almost hit me in the rear end for sure and there was nowhere for me to go,” said Hendrix. “He about got me in the tail end and he about got me on the front corner panel.”

Police wrapped up their search shortly before 5 p.m.

If you have any information about the suspect, call police or Crime Stoppers at 918-596-COPS.