Dallas Chief of Police Eddie Garcia Friday released body and dash cam video from a shooting involving a police officer that took place near Love Field Tuesday afternoon.
The gunfire came after a long police chase recorded on dash cam video through North Dallas for the driver of what Garcia said was a stolen U-Haul truck.
The chief defended police actions.
“This man, who had absolutely no regard for human life, recklessly hit other drivers, putting lives in jeopardy. Then he turned and tried to kill one of my police officers,” Garcia said.
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Garcia said the incident began Tuesday at about 11 a.m. as undercover officers in the northwest part of the city were conducting surveillance on that truck. They saw a man get into the cab who was later identified as 41-year-old Ryan Taylor.
Garcia said while the truck stopped at Dunhaven and Lenel Place in the Midway Hollow neighborhood, Taylor "intentionally backed into an occupied covert vehicle, causing the airbags to deploy and pushing the vehicle into a fire hydrant."
Marked patrol cars began following the truck.
In the dashcam video, the truck is seen entering the Dallas North Tollway at Walnut Hill Lane and heading south. It hits several other vehicles while traveling down the tollway.
Garcia said it appeared that Taylor was trying to block the pursuit by causing accidents. The chief said continuing that pursuit was justified.
“We measure our pursuits with the crime involved. This individual showed disregard for public safety when he committed aggravated assault on a covert officer in the car,” Garcia said.
After exiting the DNT at Wycliff, the truck is seen running a red light at Maple Avenue, right in front of a passing DART bus.
The chase ended with the wreck on Lemmon Avenue, right in front of Jackson's Home and Garden store.
Owner Bob Jackson witnessed it all.
“I heard the police sirens and then saw all these wrecks, just cars running into each other and parts flying all over Lemmon Avenue,” Jackson said.
Police said Taylor ran from the crash into a private hangar where he fired at officers.
Garcia showed body cam video from Dallas Police Officer Kennan Craven who ran after Taylor and returned fire, hitting Taylor in the leg.
Craven and other officers took Taylor into custody inside the hangar and provided first aid until Dallas Fire Rescue transported him to a hospital.
“It frightened me. I ran behind the tree out here thinking I could get hurt,” Jackson said. “I have 41 years of being here. I’ve never ever seen anything like that, ever.”
No other officers fired their weapons and no officers were hurt. Police said there were no serious injuries reported related to the crashes in the pursuit. Garcia said Taylor's handgun was recovered and it had been stolen.
Records obtained by NBC 5 show Taylor has been in and out of Dallas County Jail since 2009 after being accused of assault, burglary, fraud, drug possession, vehicle theft and unlawful use of a firearm.
Dallas Police said Taylor will now be charged with more serious aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault on a public servant along with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle and evading arrest in a vehicle.
It's not clear if Taylor has obtained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
The neighboring businessman praised police for stopping the gun-toting suspect without killing him.
“Kudos to them, they did a great job,” Jackson said.
But the investigation of police conduct is not over.
The Dallas Police Special Investigations Unit is reviewing the incident. The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office and Dallas Office of Community Police Oversight both responded to the scene and will conduct their own investigations.
Dallas Police said this was the fifth officer-involved shooting involving a Dallas Police officer in 2023. Garcia said Friday that in each of those incidents, his officers were targeted with gunfire.
