The city plans to recognize both men at the next City Council meeting.
The city plans to recognize both men at the next City Council meeting.
The city plans to recognize both men at the next City Council meeting.
WHITE SETTLEMENT, Texas — A traffic stop in White Settlement turned into a high-stakes chase, prompting two North Texas residents to step in and assist police.
White Settlement Police Officer Samuel Brown pulled over a vehicle with a paper license plate near North Dodson Street, but the situation quickly escalated.
“Traffic stops happen all the time,” said White Settlement Police Chief Chris Cook. “But they are one of the most high-risk calls that an officer faces.”
Dash cam video shared by Chief Cook shows the driver’s side door opening abruptly before the suspect fled on foot. Officer Brown can be seen in his body cam video returning to secure a backpack left behind by the fleeing driver. He locked the backpack in his patrol vehicle and instructed a passenger in the suspect car to remain seated.
Chief Cook confirmed that the backpack contained two handguns.
The suspect ran into the backyard of a nearby home where Dillon Tucker and his brother Hayden Garcia were spending time with family.
“I see the subject running by, and I’m like, well, that’s weird,” said Garcia. “And then I see my brother. I’m like, okay, well, I guess we are chasing him.”
Tucker had already been watching the traffic stop from the front yard. He gave chase as the suspect fled through their yard and into a nearby creek.
“This male in front of my yard, running from the police, from the vehicle,” said Tucker. “We fell over into the creek. The subject was wrestling around with us a lot. He was saying, ‘I ain’t got nothing on me. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
Officer Brown, after calling for backup, heard screams nearby and responded. He discovered Tucker and Garcia holding the suspect down. With their help, Brown handcuffed the driver, identified as 24-year-old Lance Darden, a wanted felon.
According to Chief Cook, Darden had warrants for assault of a pregnant person and assault of a family household member.
“Now he’s got some new charges,” said Chief Cook. “Of course, failure to ID. When you’re a fugitive, you cannot give fictitious information if you’re detained or a fugitive. And so, we’ve charged him with that. Also, evading an officer—that’s another misdemeanor charge. And then, the two firearms—that’s a felon in possession of a firearm. That’s a felony charge.”
Darden was not injured during the citizen-assisted arrest, police said.
White Settlement Police are now calling Tucker and Garcia good Samaritans. Although the department does not encourage civilians to intervene, their actions helped ensure a wanted felon didn’t escape.
“They made the decision on their own, you know, cognition to just chase after this suspect,” said Chief Cook. “No doubt this guy probably would have gotten away if we had not had the help of these two Good Samaritans.”