VIDEO: Meth Maniac Leads Police on 20-Minute High Speed Chase in 2012

Officer Adrian Castro and Michael Trammell locked eyes as Castro’s patrol car cruised by the San Angelo Lodge the late afternoon of Nov. 10, 2012. The area is known for drug activity, and as Castro continued down Van Buren St., Trammell maintained his gaze from behind the wheel of a white Dodge Durango.

Turning east on Colorado, Castro watched the Durango pull away from the west side of the Lodge and continue onto Colorado St. He caught a glimpse of a female in the passenger seat of car. As Castro’s patrol vehicle approached the SUV, he and Trammell once again exchanged a stare. The man was watching him in the driver’s side mirror.

Reading the license plate back over the radio, dispatch confirmed that the Durango’s registration sticker had expired in August of 2012 and Castro initiated a traffic stop. Trammell pulled over to the side of the road, but as Castro approached, the brake lights came on and the tires spun: a high-speed chase had just begun.

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For the next 17-20 minutes, Trammell led Castro on a tour of San Angelo’s Police Sector 3, reaching speeds as high as 90 mph, zooming through quiet residential neighborhoods, sliding around turns, blasting through stops lights and traversing motel parking lots, alleyways, countless city streets, and speeding over a bar ditch and through a barren field.

The expanse of the chase covered almost every neighborhood between Beauregard to the north and Knickerbocker to the south and Houston Harte to the west and Van Buren to the east, including quiet residential neighborhoods in Santa Rita and around ASU, and the Sunset Mall parking lot.

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When Trammell tore off through the field next to the old Circuit City building near Arden Road, police momentarily lost sight of the Durango, only to discover it about a minute later parked in the 200 block of Amistad.

According to the police report, a resident in the area heard the approaching sirens and came out of his house to see officers nearby. Around the same time, the report says, the man heard his dogs barking and spotted two people hiding out in the alley who appeared to be nervous and out of breath.

Sergeant Pucci and Officer Halfmann then located the two, who were identified as 41-year-old Michael Trammell and 34-year-old Lynsey Lovett. On the ground near the duo, police located a baggy of crystal meth and a discarded TracPhone.

Lovett and Trammell were handcuffed and searched, and K9 Handler Howard Miller and his dog, Reno, arrived on scene to sniff out the area and the vehicle. Police found a syringe in the Durango’s glove box and a purse filled with assorted drug paraphernalia.

Trammell did not want to speak with detectives or officers on scene, the report states, however did say that he was aware the registration sticker was out of date on the vehicle. Moments later, the report said, he claimed to have not been driving the vehicle. Officer Castro recognized the man from the stare-down prior to the chase.

Lovett, one the other hand, was more forthcoming with information. She claimed to have used meth a few days prior, but denied that the meth officers found or the paraphernalia in the purse belonged to her. She said she had been waiting on a ride at the San Angelo Lodge when Trammell appeared and offered to give her one. He had been driving during the chase, she said, but had no idea why he ran.

Through the course of the investigation, officers learned that both Trammell and Lovett had county warrants for their arrests. Both were charged with possession of methamphetamine and evading arrest, and Trammell was additionally charged with evading arrest in a motor vehicle.

Trammell was convicted of evading in a motor vehicle and received two years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. He was also convicted for the possession charge and received a state jail sentence of 180 days plus restitution of $140. Lovett was convicted of possession and received 60 days in the county jail and $140 restitution. The evading arrest charge was dismissed against Lovett.