A SWAT situation in Richland Hills lasted for nearly nine hours Tuesday on the 7400 block of Bridges Avenue. But police say the man they are looking for somehow escaped.
It started when a Hurst police officer tried to pull over a man at around 3:00 a.m. for suspected drunk driving in a stolen car. Police say the man fled, but crashed the car on Loop 820. Police say the man, who they describe as a white male in his 20’s, threatened the officer with a gun and took off running.
Police say the man broke into a home in Richland Hills. The owner of the house says the man knocked at his door begging for help. When the owner opened the door, the man forced his way inside and held him, his wife and brother hostage at gunpoint.
"I feared for my life," said Bryan Trantham, who owns the home. "I had nothing for protection around the house."
Police surrounded the home and the SWAT team was called in to help.
The house is right across the street from Richland Middle School and school officials decided to cancel class because of the situation.
Trantham says he and his wife were able to sneak out of the house when the suspect was not watching, but his brother remained captive.
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Tear gas was shot inside the house and the SWAT team entered it by noon. But somehow the man escaped with Trantham’s brother still held as a hostage, according to Trantham.
"I'm concerned," said Dawn Richards, who has a son that goes to Richland Middle School. "There's someone loose in our neighborhood. This is a quiet, nice town we live in here. Activities like this do not go on here."
Trantham says he has never seen the man before. He says his brother was released by the suspect several blocks away from the home uninjured.
Police tell me right now there are conflicting stories, but the owner tells me he had never seen the man before. The man is still on the run.
