SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) - A suspected car thief led Scottsdale police on a hit-and-run spree and then a foot chase before shot and apprehended in a Mesa backyard, authorities said Friday.
The 40-year-old male suspect deliberately rammed two vehicles and then tried to run over an officer with a stolen pickup, said Sgt. Ben Hoster, a Scottsdale police spokesman.
The officer shot at the truck, striking the driver three times in the upper torso, Hoster said.
The suspect, whose identity was not immediately released, was hospitalized in critical but stable condition, he said.
The suspect’s alleged crime spree began around 10:40 p.m. Thursday when police responded to a hit-and-run accident. A pickup truck that was involved fled the scene, but it was reported in a nearby hit-and-run 90 minutes later, Hoster said.
Police followed the truck to a car wash, where the confrontation between the driver and an approaching officer occurred.
Despite suffering multiple gunshot wounds, the suspect led police on a chase for nine minutes before crashing the truck in Mesa while trying to navigate a turn. The suspect abandoned the pickup and took off, Hoster said.
Officers from Mesa police and the Arizona Department of Public Safety along with a Phoenix police air unit joined in the search.
The suspect ran through a construction site and several backyards. But after 30 minutes, police found him in a backyard, and he was arrested.
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