BULLARD, Texas — A Bullard police officer was injured and a 23-year-old man was arrested after a high-speed pursuit that spanned Smith and Cherokee counties early Tuesday morning.
Bullard police said a sergeant attempted to stop a passenger car on U.S. Highway 69 in Bullard for a traffic violation around 1:20 a.m., but the driver of the vehicle fled from the officers and a pursuit started.
The suspect, who was later identified as Brandon Oscar Mendez-Espita, fled in the vehicle at high rates of speed from Highway 69 to various county roads in both Cherokee and Smith counties, police said.
Around 2 a.m., Mendez-Espita stopped the vehicle on FM 756 and fled on foot into the woods. Officers and Smith County deputies quickly found Mendez-Espita, who started resisting and struggling with officers, according to BPD.
Mendez-Espita was arrested; however, during the struggle both he and a Bullard police officer were injured, police said.
He is charged with evading arrest with a vehicle, resisting arrest and driving while intoxicated. He was taken to the hospital for his injuries and then booked into the Cherokee County Jail, according to police.
The police department also thanked the Smith County Sheriff's Office for its assistance and the Bullard police officers for their response to the pursuit.