- Two women were killed after fleeing from police across an active freeway following a shoplifting incident in Houston’s Galleria area.
A shoplifting call is about as run-of-the-mill as police work gets, the kind of thing that usually ends with a report number and a trip back to the store. But outside an Old Navy in Houston’s Galleria area, what started that ordinary turned into something far more serious, and far more tragic, in a matter of minutes.
Police say the call came in around 9:15 at night, and officers quickly got a description of the suspects’ ride: a Chevy Tahoe, which is not exactly a subtle getaway vehicle by anyone’s standards. Officers located the SUV near South Rice and West Park and attempted a traffic stop. Instead of pulling over, the driver took off, and what began as a shoplifting case turned into a full pursuit onto the Southwest Freeway.
That’s when things went from bad to worse. As the chase approached the Interstate 45 interchange, the Tahoe was involved in a minor crash. All four women inside the vehicle got out and ran, not to the shoulder, but across active freeway lanes. Two of them were struck by oncoming traffic while attempting to cross the southbound side. Both were pronounced dead at the scene…