News 8
Man in crash with fleeing suspect talks 
11:39 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 30, 2009
GARLAND — Lance Anderson couldn’t believe he found himself in the middle of a police chase that ended with a bang Monday afternoon.
“I’m sore [on the] back of my shoulders from the seat belt, and I hit my knees,” the independent contractor said while showing his bloody knees.
Anderson said he had just left one job and was headed to another when his pickup truck slammed into a car fleeing from police at the intersection of West Buckingham and North Plano roads on the Garland-Richardson border.
Shane William Michel, the suspect, was driving the grey Nissan that went through a red light directly into the path of Anderson's truck. Anderson said he didn’t see Michel coming, nor did he hear the sirens blaring from the more than half a dozen police units pursuing the Nissan, which at one point in the pursuit was was reportedly traveling up to 100 mph.
"They should not have chased him for two hours, risking everybody’s lives like they did,” Anderson said. "I mean, it is so simple for them to squeeze him into a controlled situation, put him somewhere else, than it is to let him run wild out here. I mean, no police officer in front warning people [and] letting people know what’s going on. I didn’t even hear sirens. The only time I heard sirens was after I hit him.”
Dallas County Constables said the four police units pursuing the suspect — who had a felony warrant due to forgery charges — had their sirens blaring. The constables justified the high speed chase at a news conference. They said Michel was a danger to society and needed to be off the streets.
Garland police and DPS troopers also joined in the ground pursuit, but it wasn't until Anderson’s truck T-boned the four-door Nissan that the suspect was stopped.
Anderson was also involved in an accident Sunday. While his truck was totaled in Monday's crash, he said he is blessed to be walking and talking — which was not how the seriously injured suspect left the scene.
“I’m glad I wasn’t him," he said. "I mean half of his seat is crushed.”
The suspect left the accident scene on a gurney and is recovering at Baylor Hospital.
E-mail ddenmon@wfaa.com
