Tarrant County: Police chase and tasering of suspect through Fort Worth

FORT WORTH, Texas — A police chase on major highways ended Friday night with a suspect being tasered and arrested, police said.

White Settlement police released a compilation of dashcam and bodycam footage showing multiple officers pursuing a vehicle from White Settlement into downtown Fort Worth. The pursuit ended after officers pursued the suspect on foot and tasered him on a side road off Interstate 35.

Joshua Dylan Gilchrest, 31, was arrested and charged with nine felony counts from multiple agencies, according to a White Settlement police news release.

“This video footage demonstrates the inherent risks our communities and officers face when suspects refuse to follow the rule of law and endanger public safety through ongoing criminal activity,” Police Chief Christopher Cook said in the press release.

On Friday, June 28, at 8:28 p.m., White Settlement police responded to a Flock Safety license plate reader report indicating that the driver of a blue passenger vehicle was a wanted fugitive, police said.

Several officers attempted to locate the vehicle, police said. At 8:30 p.m., an officer attempted to stop the car in the 500 block of Parkside Drive in White Settlement, the news release said. A woman exited the vehicle and the male driver, believed to be wanted on several warrants, left the scene.

A confrontation then occurred between the suspect and a responding White Settlement officer, the press release states.

Officers pursued the suspect south on Dale Lane and then east on I-30 before the driver turned north onto I-35, police said. Fort Worth police assisted in the pursuit by laying out spike barriers and damaging and disabling several tires on the suspect’s vehicle, police said.

The car came to a stop on the shoulder of the southbound lanes of I-35 near downtown Fort Worth. The suspect fled, moving into the northbound lanes and onto the access road, police said. Several officers from the Fort Worth and White Settlement police departments pursued the suspect on foot, police said.

The suspect approached a black pickup truck on the access road and ordered a woman to get out of the truck, the release said. Police believe the suspect was attempting to steal the truck, and when an officer approached, the suspect ran to the rear of the truck, the release said. An officer deployed a Taser to immobilize the suspect, police said.

The suspect was taken to a hospital before being transported to White Settlement Jail, the release said. He was arrested and charged with:

• White Settlement – ​​Aggravated assault on an officer with a deadly weapon
• White Settlement – ​​Using a vehicle to evade arrest and detention
• White Settlement – ​​Possession of Marijuana
• Southlake – Theft of property valued at less than $2,500 with 2 or more prior convictions
• North Richland Hills – Theft of property valued at less than $2,500 with 2 or more prior convictions
• North Richland Hills – Second District for theft of property under $2,500 with two or more prior convictions
• North Richland Hills – Using a vehicle to evade arrest and detention
• Fort Worth – Theft of property valued at less than $2,500 with two or more prior convictions
• State of Texas – Felony Parole Violation – Board of Pardons and Parole

White Settlement police did not disclose what charges are directly related to the chase.