Suspect rammed officer’s patrol car while evading arrest, investigators say
By Mike Glenn, Houston Chronicle
A Harris County Sheriff’s deputy shot and wounded a man who had repeatedly rammed his patrol car early Sunday while attempting to evade arrest, investigators said.
The deputy, whose name was not released, was making a routine check of a boat ramp area on the San Jacinto River shortly after 5 a.m. when a pickup approached. He stopped the vehicle and asked the driver what he was doing in the area.
The driver, identified by investigators as Michael Blevins, 36, said he was going fishing, but the deputy couldn’t find any fishing equipment in his pickup.
“While checking the male’s identification, he learned that (Blevins) had an open aggravated assault warrant for his arrest out of Harris County,” said Sgt. B.E. Williams, a homicide investigator with the sheriff’s department.
After the arrest warrant was confirmed, Blevins raced away with the deputy in pursuit, Williams said. He slammed his pickup into the deputy’s patrol car when both vehicles reached the intersection of Lynchburg Crossing and Decker in east Harris County, Williams said.
Blevins continued along Decker until he tried to make a U-turn in the 7700 block and again struck the pursuing patrol car,Williams said.
“They (the vehicles) were almost at arm’s length from each other,” Williams said. “The deputy was continuing to tell him to stop and telling him to get out of his vehicle.”
Fearing that the pickup would roll over his patrol car, the deputy leaned out the window and fired one shot, striking the man in the left abdomen, Williams said.
Blevins, a Humble resident, was taken by Life Flight helicopter to Memorial Hermann Hospital.
“It’s my understanding he’s undergoing surgery,” Williams said.
The deputy was not injured in the incident.
The shooting is being investigated by the Sheriff’s Department homicide and internal affairs divisions and the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.