CAL
February 28th, 2010, 05:32 PM
http://www.dailytribune.net/articles/2010/02/26/news/01.txt
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Highway Patrol trooper Jose Orsornio has a tale his law enforcement colleagues are shaking their heads at today. On Wednesday, Feb. 24, at approximately 9:05 p.m., Orsornio was on patrol near the 165 eastbound mile marker of Interstate 30 when he observed a 1999 Chrysler 300 with Wisconsin license plates break several traffic laws.
He attempted to pull into the lane of traffic behind the car, but for a few minutes was obstructed by a second vehicle, also with Wisconsin license plates.
"At that time, I figured the two cars were traveling together," said Orsornio.
Eventually the second vehicle let Orsornio into the lane of traffic behind the Chrysler and then, as the traffic stop moved to the shoulder of the road, the second vehicle passed the trooper and continued east on the Interstate.
As Orsornio talked with the female driver of the Chrysler, he observed several factors in her behavior that indicated to him that she might be transporting drugs in her vehicle.
"I received verbal consent to search the car, but I couldn't open the trunk with the key, so I had to reinsert the key into the ignition in order to push the button to open the trunk," said the trooper.
When Orsornio popped the trunk, he said he could smell a strong odor of green marijuana and located several cellophane-wrapped packages in the trunk and in a suitcase in the trunk.
At that point, the trooper placed the driver, Barbara J. Wallace, 35, of Milwaukee, Wis., under arrest on a second degree felony charge of possession of marijuana over 50 pounds under 2,000 pounds.
But Orsornio's evening wasn't over.
As he dealt with Wallace, the second vehicle - the one that had obstructed his movement - approached the traffic stop.
"The vehicle stopped in the outside lane, the passenger jumped out and stole the Chrysler from the traffic stop and then, because of traffic on the Interstate, he couldn't pull back onto the highway, so he continued down the shoulder and exited on FM 1001," said Orsornio.
Normal traffic tends to yield to a DPS-HP patrol car running with lights flashing and siren blaring and Orsornio had no problem following the stolen Chrysler.
As the car turned north onto FM 1001 and continued at high speed up the state highway, Orsornio, who knew what was coming, slowed down a bit and let the stolen car run.
At least until it couldn't negotiate the first sharp turn in the road and hit a large tree.
The driver, as yet unidentified by reports, sustained what was later diagnosed as a broken leg in the crash, but adrenalin does strange things to human behavior and he managed to leave the car by the front passenger door and escape into the darkness on foot.
He was located by Titus County Sheriff's Office deputies almost four hours later, taken into custody and transported to the Titus Regional Medical Center's emergency room for treatment.
The unidentified male suspect is still in the hospital, but Ms. Wallace was transported to the Titus County Jail, where she was booked in without incident.
The final total on the drugs, which stayed in the trunk during the incident, was eight packages with a total weight of 80 pounds, according to Orsornio, who thanked the DPS troopers who came out to assist him, as well as the deputies from the TCSO deputies, the Mount Pleasant Police Department officers and the Winfield Police Department officers, all of whom assisted in the four-hour manhunt for the male suspect.
Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) Highway Patrol trooper Jose Orsornio has a tale his law enforcement colleagues are shaking their heads at today. On Wednesday, Feb. 24, at approximately 9:05 p.m., Orsornio was on patrol near the 165 eastbound mile marker of Interstate 30 when he observed a 1999 Chrysler 300 with Wisconsin license plates break several traffic laws.
He attempted to pull into the lane of traffic behind the car, but for a few minutes was obstructed by a second vehicle, also with Wisconsin license plates.
"At that time, I figured the two cars were traveling together," said Orsornio.
Eventually the second vehicle let Orsornio into the lane of traffic behind the Chrysler and then, as the traffic stop moved to the shoulder of the road, the second vehicle passed the trooper and continued east on the Interstate.
As Orsornio talked with the female driver of the Chrysler, he observed several factors in her behavior that indicated to him that she might be transporting drugs in her vehicle.
"I received verbal consent to search the car, but I couldn't open the trunk with the key, so I had to reinsert the key into the ignition in order to push the button to open the trunk," said the trooper.
When Orsornio popped the trunk, he said he could smell a strong odor of green marijuana and located several cellophane-wrapped packages in the trunk and in a suitcase in the trunk.
At that point, the trooper placed the driver, Barbara J. Wallace, 35, of Milwaukee, Wis., under arrest on a second degree felony charge of possession of marijuana over 50 pounds under 2,000 pounds.
But Orsornio's evening wasn't over.
As he dealt with Wallace, the second vehicle - the one that had obstructed his movement - approached the traffic stop.
"The vehicle stopped in the outside lane, the passenger jumped out and stole the Chrysler from the traffic stop and then, because of traffic on the Interstate, he couldn't pull back onto the highway, so he continued down the shoulder and exited on FM 1001," said Orsornio.
Normal traffic tends to yield to a DPS-HP patrol car running with lights flashing and siren blaring and Orsornio had no problem following the stolen Chrysler.
As the car turned north onto FM 1001 and continued at high speed up the state highway, Orsornio, who knew what was coming, slowed down a bit and let the stolen car run.
At least until it couldn't negotiate the first sharp turn in the road and hit a large tree.
The driver, as yet unidentified by reports, sustained what was later diagnosed as a broken leg in the crash, but adrenalin does strange things to human behavior and he managed to leave the car by the front passenger door and escape into the darkness on foot.
He was located by Titus County Sheriff's Office deputies almost four hours later, taken into custody and transported to the Titus Regional Medical Center's emergency room for treatment.
The unidentified male suspect is still in the hospital, but Ms. Wallace was transported to the Titus County Jail, where she was booked in without incident.
The final total on the drugs, which stayed in the trunk during the incident, was eight packages with a total weight of 80 pounds, according to Orsornio, who thanked the DPS troopers who came out to assist him, as well as the deputies from the TCSO deputies, the Mount Pleasant Police Department officers and the Winfield Police Department officers, all of whom assisted in the four-hour manhunt for the male suspect.