A three-hour standoff in Houston between Harris County sheriff’s deputies and a man driving a tractor-trailer backed up traffic for hours Wednesday. (Photo: Greater Houston Transportation and Emergency Management Center)
A three-hour standoff between a truck driver and Houston law enforcement ended Wednesday after SWAT team members ripped apart the tractor-trailer to apprehend the man.
Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez identified the truck driver as Trinidad Cutshall, 42, who has been charged with felony evading. Gonzalez said law enforcement is still investigating if Cutshall is the vehicle’s owner or a company driver — or someone who made off with the truck.
The incident began around 1 p.m. when a deputy sheriff officer saw the tractor-trailer parked in the middle of Interstate 10 in East Houston, according to Gonzalez.
“When the officer turned on his overheads, the truck driver proceeded to drive forward, going at a high rate of speed and then he started doing some evasive action, changing multiple lanes and swerving in and out of different lanes,” Gonzalez said during a news conference Wednesday.
The truck was eventually disabled by spike strips, which caused the truck to slow down and stop along the shoulder of the highway. Deputies surrounded the vehicle, but Cutshall reportedly refused to turn off the engine and get out of the truck.
“We attempted numerous things, from non-weapons, nonlethal methods, to eventually verbal commands and negotiations to no avail,” Gonzalez said. “He appeared to be behind the wheel in a glaze, just running the truck, revving the engine, as if he was still driving.”
Harris County officers used a Rook, a Humvee-like vehicle with a mechanical arm, to tear open the back of the truck’s cab. Afterward, they sent a police dog in to confront Cutshall, who reportedly still refused to surrender.
Cutshall eventually surrendered around 4 p.m. after sheriff’s officers fired several rounds of tear gas into the truck’s cabin.
“Eventually we were successful in gaining entry into the cab and eventually physically pulling him out,” Gonzalez said. “From his unresponsiveness … it appears that he might have been heavily impaired.”
The standoff between Cutshall and authorities closed off eastbound traffic on the highway for several hours. Gonzalez said Cutshall did not appear to have any weapons and no one was hurt during the incident.
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