The driver of a Corvette lost his race with Douglas Police on Saturday when his vehicle crashed twice before before finally coming to rest after hitting a traffic barrier at the Douglas Port of Entry.
 The Corvette after it hit the barriers at the Douglas Port of Entry |
Police located the vehicle at the intersection of Highway 80 and Hospital Rd.
The vehicle was traveling at a high rate of speed and police attempted to stop the vehicle at Highway 80 and Chino Road. The driver of the vehicle refused to stop and made an abrupt turn onto Chino Rd. southbound. Police initiated pursuit on the vehicle. The vehicle fled at a high rate of speed down Chino Road,, at times swerving into the opposing lane of travel, putting other driver’s in danger.
The vehicle then turned east onto 5th St. The driver of the vehicle was unable to maintain control of the vehicle’s speed and collided with a traffic sign and the median at 5th St. and Pan American Avenue, causing severe damage to his vehicle. Nevertheless, the driver still fled south on Pan American Avenue at a high rate of speed toward the U.S. Port of Entry and Mexico. The driver of the vehicle was again unable to control his vehicle’s speed and collided with the center traffic barriers at the southbound lanes of the U.S. Port of Entry, which were placed there to protect expensive high tech surveillance equipment.
The vehicle came to a stop on top of the concrete traffic barriers.
The driver of the vehicle, identified as Olegario Palacios 4-15-90 of Tucson, was arrested for Unlawful Flight from Pursuing Law Enforcement and Endangerment, both felonies in the State of Arizona. The reason Palacios gave police for fleeing was that his driver’s license was suspended and he didn’t think police were going to catch him since he was driving a fast vehicle.
Palacios was booked into the Cochise County Jail where he awaits arraignment. Palacios caused a significant amount of damage to the high tech surveillance equipment at the U.S. Port of Entry. The State of Arizona and the U.S. Government will seek restitution for the damaged property.
Douglas Police had little control over whether or not to initiate a pursuit due to the unknown circumstances behind Palacios’ erratic driving and excessive speed. There were no indications that suggested that Palacios would not yield to law enforcement, and therefore, the traffic stop was attempted. Obviously, in this case, Palacios made another poor decision and decided to flee from police. Luckily for all, the end result was property damage and not any serious injury or death, Police said
Police would like to remind the public that fleeing from police is a felony and is punishable by fines and imprisonment. Placing the public in danger is a separate charge of Endangerment, which is also a felony. Furthermore, there has not been a vehicle made that is faster than a radio transmission and therefore it is extremely difficult to outrun law enforcement. Police work closely with other law enforcement agencies, which make it nearly impossible to evade law enforcement. This is a great example of how Douglas Police and U.S. Customs and Border Protection worked together to achieve a common goal.
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