At 12:46 am CCSO responded to a robbery that occurred at the Borracho Saloon in Munds Park. The caller on 911 said a thin black male asked to use his phone to make a call, then ran off with his phone and took off in a silver car. The victim was able to get the license plate and give it to the 911 call taker. When dispatchers did a check on the license plate the victim provided, they discovered that the vehicle was reported as stolen a few days earlier out of Queen Creek. An all-points bulletin and an attempt to locate were broadcast to all surrounding agencies.
At 1:08 am A Flagstaff Police Officer spotted the vehicle at the Butler and I-40 on-ramp. When the officer maneuvered behind the suspect’s vehicle, another small green car attempted to run the officer off the road in an attempt to divert the officers away from the suspect’s car. The suspect and two other cars (including the green car) fled from officers at a high rate of speed along I-40 eastbound and a pursuit was initiated. Speeds in the pursuit reached nearly 100 mph. The suspect and the drivers of the other two cars exited on Country Club and stopped in a parking lot where all three drivers fled on foot and ran in different directions in the area of 5404 E Cortland Bvd.
A K9 dog from CCSO, and DPS Ranger helicopter out of Seligman were called to assist in the search. Inside one of the 3 vehicles (the one that was stolen,) an officer located an empty gun holster, prompting officers and deputies to believe at least one of the suspects was armed. K9 Dex was deployed and made quick work of the fields and areas adjacent to where the suspects fled. The DPS Ranger helicopter was forced to land due to high winds. At around 3:30 am, A CCSO Deputy spotted a suspicious vehicle at the County Club Terrace Apartments with 3 people inside matching the description of those who fled earlier. All occupants were ordered out of the car at gunpoint and taken into custody. It was later determined that one of the other cars involved was also stolen hours earlier from a nearby casino.
This is a developing story. We have reached out to Flagstaff Police and CCSO for further information. Stay with Flagscanner for updates.
