LA VERNIA, Texas – A man stole a pickup truck and led law enforcement officers on a chase before crashing the vehicle into a tree Thursday afternoon in Wilson County, officials said.
The ordeal began when the man stole the pickup truck at a funeral home, officials said.
Two La Vernia police officers spotted the pickup on FM 1346 and tried to stop the man, but he led them on a chase past Loop 1604 and then turned around and headed onto Highway 87, officials said.
During the chase, the man rammed the pickup truck into the two police vehicles, police said.
A law enforcement officer fired about eight shots at the man, but he wasn't wounded, police said.
The chase ended when the man crashed the pickup into a tree, officials said. He then sat in the truck smoking a cigarette for about 10 minutes before a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper pulled him out of the vehicle and arrested him, officials said.
One of the La Vernia police officers suffered a back injury.