Police chase ends after pursuit across Houston area during rush hour

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - A man is facing felony charges after leading police on a bizarre 90-minute-long slow-speed chase through Houston morning rush hour traffic on Thursday.

The suspect, 42-year-old Baytown resident Eric Brown, was arrested at around 9:30 a.m. on the 610 South Loop near NRG Stadium. Baytown police processed Brown and he was later booked into the Harris County Jail.

Police say it started as a fight between two newlyweds at their home on Carriage Lane in Baytown. Officers say Brown took out a pistol and used it to threaten his wife after she arrived home from work early on Thursday morning.

Police also say that at one point, Brown pointed the gun at his wife and pulled the trigger several times, but the gun did not fire. 

 "At some point during that altercation, it became physical,” said Lieutenant Steve Dorris with the Baytown Police Department. “She tried to wrestle the gun away from him. That's how she ended up getting her hands injured a little bit."

Police say Brown followed his wife out into the yard, where he apparently fired a shot into the ground. When police showed up, he was getting into his car and the chase began.

Brown was seen driving a sport utility vehicle at high speeds and then later at very slow speeds into Houston, bypassing red lights, going the wrong direction down streets and endangering countless morning commuters.

Officers were warned that he likely had a gun with him in the SUV.

"During the pursuit, he was actually calling his wife back at the residence, trying to talk to her,” said Lt. Dorris. “Our hostage negotiation team was on the phone with him, trying to convince him to pull over.”

Spike strips failed to stop the SUV as it crawled forward, then stopped, allowing officers to get out of the patrol vehicles with their guns drawn. This happened several times, but each time, the officers would jump back in their cars because Brown would start driving away again.

Finally, a pit maneuver was used and Eric Brown was taken out of the SUV, placed onto a stretcher and arrested.

"He made threats to hurt himself,” said Lt. Dorris. “He made threats to hurt other people. Some of his behavior was relatively irrational."

Back in Baytown, Brown’s wife was treated for minor hand injuries at her home.

Police say the couple married and moved in together in early March.

The next door neighbor says her husband only had one brief encounter with Brown.

"He seen the man sitting on our curb, so he said, "Good morning,' or something to the man of that nature, and the man didn't speak,” describes Sherry Alfred. “He just walked off. So when he came in the house, he said, that was kind of strange. He's not too friendly of a neighbor."

Police say Brown is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felony evading.

As for the gun used in the crime, police say they didn’t find it in Brown’s SUV or home. Officers tell FOX 26 News that they’re now reviewing dashboard camera video to see if Brown threw the gun out the window during the police chase.

Police say Brown does not have a criminal record other than one incident in January. Police say before the couple was married, Brown’s wife called police on him, accusing him of trespassing at her home.