HOUSTON – Uber driver Anthony Baines says it is one of the craziest things that has ever happened to him.
He says he was stopping at a stop sign at E. 7 1/2 Street and Oxford Street in The Heights neighborhood, adding he was about a block away from picking up someone who requested a ride.
That’s when he saw a man running with no shirt on with two Houston police officers trailing behind. And it was all caught on his car’s dash cam. The second officer is seen with a flashlight approaching Baines’ car.
“Hey, give me a ride over there please,” the officer says. “Go, go that way....go go go go go.”
Baines says after picking up both officers, the only conversation he had with them was this:
“Alright, which way am I going,” Baines asked.
“Go that way,” the officers respond, pointing in a certain direction.
Baines says he was surprised and shocked when the officer got into his vehicle and ordered him to pursue the suspect.
“I’m just running off adrenaline. I am surprised. I’m shocked. I have cops ordering me to do things. I’m going to comply. I didn’t want to resist or anything of that nature,” Baines said.
Houston police have confirmed the authenticity of the video and incident. They tell KPRC 2 they received a call reporting the man running in the video had threatened to shoot a mom and her two kids. HPD said the man was upset because he thought someone had stolen from him.
Baines’ wife was concerned about the danger of the situation.
“Two people signed up to be in those situations. Two people are getting paid to be in those situations. One of them wasn’t, you know. So that was the risk that my wife was concerned about,” Baines said.
HPD says when officers tried to detain the man as he was leaving an apartment, he refused to cooperate and took off running.
Baines said he understood why the officers got into his car because of the distance between them and the suspect.
“The gap between the cops and the suspect, I felt that it would make sense for them to get in a vehicle and pursue the suspect because he was extremely fast. I didn’t think they would be able to catch him on foot,” Baines said.
Despite Baines’ help, HPD says they weren’t able to find the man.
KPRC 2 has reached out to the Houston Police department asking about what their policy is for officers using a person’s car to chase a suspect on foot.
“I didn’t know what my rights were at the moment, but I’m glad I was able to help, and I’m glad that they are recognizing it,” Baines said. “This is by far a unique situation. I never prepared for anything like this. So this is different.”