Texas police chief, CBP agent hurt in crash during pursuit of man who blew through border patrol checkpoint

A Texas police chief and a US Customs and Border Protection agent were injured in a high-speed pursuit of a man who blew through a checkpoint and was later arrested following an hours-long standoff at a storage facility.

The wild chase began around 5:45 a.m. Thursday after the suspect, 30-year-old Robert Michael Stuart, was stopped at a border patrol checkpoint in Duval County.

Agents asked Stuart to move on to the second checkpoint for further inspection, but instead he hit the gas, prompting agents to give chase, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Freer Police Chief Rolando Flores joined the pursuit and T-boned Border Patrol agent Manuel Perez as Perez pulled out of Highway 44 in Encinal towards U.S. 59, according to KIIITV.

Flores was taken to Sphon Hospital with a dislocated finger and a possible broken wrist. Perez was flown to Sphon Shoreline in Corpus Christi with a broken shoulder and remains hospitalized, the outlet reported.

“And in a blink of an eye, my life would have been changed,” Flores wrote in a social media post after the crash.

“I thank God for looking over us … grateful to be alive is an understatement. Continued prayers for the other agent involved,” he added.

Meanwhile, DPS troopers followed Stuart and saw him enter a storage unit in Calallen, the northwestern section of Corpus Christi, according to KRISTV.

When they pulled up, DPS troopers said the suspect was swapping vehicles and immediately locked himself in the storage unit, leading to a lengthy standoff with law enforcement.

Eventually the DPS SWAT team was called in. The used a battering ram to force open the unit then threw a flash-bang inside before taking Stuart, of Robson, into custody.

Stuart will be transported back to Duval County where he’ll be charged with evading arrest with a motor vehicle causing bodily injury.

Law enforcement at the scene originally told KIIITV that the chase involved migrants, but are now saying that information is not confirmed. The Post has reached out to Texas DPS for confirmation.