HOUSTON – The mother of the man who was arrested after police chased his vehicle from southeast Houston to the northwest side told KPRC2 she called her son and asked him to stop evading police.
"I was just praying he wasn't going to hurt anyone," said the woman, who asked for her identity be concealed.
The woman identified her son as Andrew Trevino, 26.
According to Houston police, the chase started around 9:15 a.m. on the La Porte Freeway after officers received a report of a suspicious person.
The dark SUV police were chasing drove onto Interstate 610 and then exited onto Highway 288.
Later, the vehicle passed several other vehicles while entering Interstate 45 northbound in downtown Houston.
RAW VIDEO: Police chase vehicle through Houston
"He was driving with his emergency lights on, he was very cautious in what he was doing. He wasn't trying to cause a major accident on the intersection when he turned right. He was just being cautious,” a witness said.
By 9:40 a.m., the vehicle was traveling through The Heights on 19th Street. The driver weaved through the neighborhood traveling at relatively low speeds.
"I heard the police and I went out there to see what was happening and that's when I saw it. I came out and went right back into the house,” one neighborhood resident said.
By 9:45 a.m., the vehicle was traveling northbound on Yale Street, traveling in front of Booker T. Washington High School.
PHOTOS: Houston police chase vehicle from southeast to northwest
By 9:50 a.m., the driver had driven to a dead-end street and drove into a wooded area behind some homes. He then stopped in a grove of trees and jumped out of the vehicle. Officers quickly moved in and arrested the man.
"They followed him through the split on the side of our house," said Marlon, who lives where the chase ended: in a pasture behind a cul-de-sac on LeLay Circle, which intersects with East Whitney, in the Independence Heights neighborhood.
"It's a dead end. It's muddy back there. You can't get out," said Rodrick Smith, another resident.
Several police units surround the area where chase suspect was caught near Yale St & E Thornton Rd @KPRC2 pic.twitter.com/74Fg2nU0dk
— Anoushah Rasta (@Anoushah_Rasta) September 21, 2016
While HPD had not released the man's name as of Wednesday afternoon, they confirmed to KPRC2 that he had an outstanding warrant on a drug charge, dated Sept. 15.
The man's mother acknowledged the warrant and said her son had been arrested and bonded out, though he skipped a court date.
She said her son battled mental illness and she tried to get help for him, calling Harris County mental health officials as recently as Tuesday.
"I called Harris County mental health and checked with them yesterday to let them know what was going on," she said.
"They said unless he was a risk to himself, suicidal, or at risk of killing someone else, they couldn't do anything," she continued.
Trevino was charged with evading.