Police arrest man after 2nd pursuit this week
Mar. 4—ENID, Okla. — For the second time this week, Enid Police Department officers arrested a man following a vehicle pursuit Tuesday evening that at one point exceeded speeds more than 80 mph and left a railroad crossing gate damaged.
Damian Grim, 20, was arrested on complaints of unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, eluding, possession of drug paraphernalia and two complaints of leaving the scene of an accident, according to a report from EPD.
Around 7:49 p.m., EPD Officer Shawn Aebi heard officers being dispatched to a report of a possible stolen vehicle out of Grant County. Dispatch said a caller on the phone was following a maroon Chevy pickup that they believed was a family member's that had been stolen Monday from Grant County, the report said.
Another officer said over the radio he thought he was behind the vehicle at 500 S. Tyler and said the vehicle took off westbound on Oklahoma, and a pursuit was started.
Aebi started to the area of the pursuit to try and get positioned to use stop sticks, and as he was nearing Roosevelt and Oklahoma, he heard the vehicle was turning eastbound onto Oklahoma from Hoover. Aebi pulled over to the side of the road, but the truck was too close and going too fast for Aebi to deploy the stop sticks, according to the report.
As the truck passed him, Aebi noticed the pursuing officers were a significant distance behind him, so he turned around, activated his lights and siren and took the lead position in the pursuit.
From there, the suspect ran the stop sign at Cleveland and Oklahoma, bottomed out on the crest of the roadway and began fishtailing. The truck left the roadway on the north side of Oklahoma, hit the railroad tracks and crossing gate, then drove between the guide wires of an electrical pole and continued east on Oklahoma, the report said.
The driver then went south on Fillmore and ran the stop sign at Garriott, where he then went east. When he reached Van Buren from Garriott, Grim went around other eastbound traffic at the intersection and continued eastbound in the westbound lanes of traffic, according to the report.
The pursuit continued through a portion of downtown, with the truck heading north on Washington at speeds more than 80 mph, running stop lights at Washington and Maine and Washington and Broadway, according to the report. The pursuit continued through several other areas of the city, including residential areas, and eventually ended at 6th and Randolph.
The driver jumped out and ran to the southeast on foot, and Aebi followed on foot, according to the EPD report. The suspect turned and ran east down the south alley of 600 E. Randolph.
As Aebi was chasing him, Garfield County Sheriff's Office Deputy Marshall Woodson turned into the alley in his vehicle, and as Aebi turned the corner into the alley, he saw Woodson get out of his vehicle as the suspect jumped a fence and went north into the backyard of a house, according to the report.
Woodson followed the driver over the fence, and Aebi said in the report he heard them running north and then back west. As he was following the sounds of running, he heard a taser deploy.
When he reached 6th and looked north, Aebi saw Woodson holding the suspect at taser point. Aebi placed him in handcuffs and searched him, finding a glass pipe with an off-white residue inside, according to the report. From his training and experience, Aebi recognized that type of pipe is normally used to consume drugs such as methamphetamine, according to the report.
Kelci McKendrick is police and court reporter for the Enid News & Eagle.
Have a question about this story? Do you see something we missed? Do you have a story idea for Kelci? Send an email to kelcim@enidnews.com.
