A gate runner incident about 8:45 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 11, could have led to tragedy, if not for Redstone law enforcement.
An SUV traveling southbound on the north side of Rideout Road impacted the grab net at Gate 9 but did not stop. The vehicle kept going at about 60 mph.
The gate guards alerted Redstone police to respond to the gate runner. Sgt. Andrew Gollop and Sgt. Stuart Gates were the first officers on the scene. They attempted to stop the vehicle but the driver, a Madison man with no affiliation to the Arsenal, did not comply.
The two police vehicles pursued the SUV heading southbound on Toftoy Throughway at 60-70 mph, according to Maj. Derek Campbell, operations officer for Redstone Police Department.
When they reached Fowler Road, the vehicle turned left or east on Fowler and then stopped in the parking lot of building 5440.
“Sgt. Gates and Sgt. Gollop attempted a felony traffic stop at that point,” Campbell said. “On a felony traffic stop, they draw their guns. As they held their weapons, that’s when they noticed the 8-year-old boy. They saw his head pop up out of the back seat.”
The driver refused the police officers’ orders to exit the vehicle. The officers communicated with each other that there was a child in the back seat.
“As they were trying to talk the driver out of the vehicle, he put the car back in drive and drove over several curbs and fled again,” Campbell said. “So, fearing for the child’s safety at this point, they continued the pursuit. The driver continued to flee. He was basically going westbound on Fowler Road.”
The vehicle entered the area of NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. At that point, NASA Protective Services shift lieutenant Brad Bowdoin and officers Jason Pool and Paulus Agee joined in the chase.
The fleeing SUV turned north on Centaur Street and then turned off the road into a wooded area. Redstone police Lt. Jeff Holder and Capt. Aaron Hanson joined in the pursuit.
In the wooded area, four Redstone police vehicles were able to box the vehicle in with their patrol cars. The officers approached the vehicle with their guns drawn on the driver. But the man put his SUV in reverse, nearly running over Holder, and then rammed into Gates’ patrol car.
“He tried to drive forward but he got stuck,” Campbell said. “So, they were giving him verbal commands to exit the vehicle, but he would not. He continued not to comply, so the officers had to bust out his windows. They used batons and emergency window breakers.
“Eventually the child actually unlocked the door. And Sgt. Gates grabbed the child to make sure he was safe. Once they got the child secure, Lt. Holder and Lt. Bowdoin were able to take the driver into custody.”
The man and his son had minor injuries from the impact with the grab net, and they were taken to the hospital. The child was released to his mother. The 41-year-old driver is pending an appearance in U.S. District Court. Campbell said the charges against him include attempting to elude and flee law enforcement, unlawful entry into a military installation, damage to government property, resisting arrest, and domestic violence third degree (for causing injury to his son).
Campbell shared his thoughts on the response made by Redstone police and NASA protective services.
“They acted in accordance with training and also within our policy and with great restraint,” he said. “It definitely could’ve gone in a different direction. And I think they did fantastic and represented us well.”
Rob Johnston, special agent with NASA protective services, had a similar perspective.
“From everything I’ve seen and heard, they were very professional and their actions were appropriate,” Johnston said. “And the big thing for me was the Redstone team worked very well together and actually probably saved a couple of lives out of this response. I was proud of all of them.”
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