CONROE – A Conroe man who led multiple law enforcement agencies on a chase earlier this year will be tried on four felony counts.
Last Thursday, a Montgomery County jury indicted 36-year-old Luis Alonso on one count each of the following charges: unauthorized use of a motor vehicle; unlawful possession of a firearm by felon; criminal mischief; and evading arrest or detention with a motor vehicle.
The trouble began on Sept. 30 when Hazel Romero was working at his second job performing landscaping and lawn maintenance on Zapata Way in the Texas National Subdivision. Police say Alonso stole Romero’s 1993 Chevrolet pickup and attached equipment filled trailer right in front of him. Romero was using a leaf blower on the customer’s backyard when he looked up to see his truck and trailer speeding away.
Romero and a neighbor then tried to catch up with Romero’s truck, but as they approached the entrance to the subdivision on FM 2432, they lost site of it. A woman out walking her dog told them the stolen truck went east toward FM 1484.
As the men approached FM 1484, they saw the truck was northbound on that road. Romero was on the phone with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Holcomb, who was en route to the scene from Willis to take the report.
The men continued following the stolen vehicle on FM 1484 and just before they reached Rose Rd., the stolen vehicle made a u-turn.
As the vehicle approached the entrance to Lone Star Airport, Deputy Rodriguez, who was northbound on FM 1484 saw the vehicle, which he was trying to locate. He turned around and tried to pull it over, but the vehicle sped up and went south on Airport Road to Fm 3083, then turned west on that road, traveling at a high rate of speed.
The Conroe Police Department was notified and Pct. 1 and Pct. 2 Constable’s Office patrol vehicles joined the pursuit.
When the vehicle reached North Frazier St., it turned north and continued past League Line Road and past Willis High School.
Just as the vehicle approached Willis City Limits, the suspect saw that Willis Police were setting up spikes. He then went off-road in the stolen vehicle, running over a fence and through a pasture with units in pursuit. He emerged on Campbell St. in Willis, where the trailer began to “fishtail,” then flipped.
Alonso crawled out of the wrecked truck at Watson St. and Campbell St., jumped a fence and fled on foot.
Early in the chase, officers were notified Romero’s pistol was under the seat of the stolen vehicle, but they had no way of knowing immediately whether the thief had discovered it prior to fleeing from the wrecked vehicle.
Officers set up a perimeter and began to close in. Two precinct 1 deputy constables were on the other side of the woods when they heard the suspect running through the brush and into the ravine.
They shouted orders for Alonso to stop, but he continued, and ran right into a deputy, who took him into custody.
The truck had heavy damage, along with the trailer and the expensive equipment inside. The pistol was found still under the seat.
Alonso has a lengthy criminal history, including multiple convictions for burglary of a habitation.
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