Midland police made an arrest Friday evening in connection with last week's pursuit that ended with Officer Jacob Churchwell sustaining serious injuries from a single-vehicle crash.
Maximiliano Soto III, of Midland, was charged with evading causing serious bodily injury, a third degree felony. Midland police were able to locate Soto through a traffic stop as the result of a tip on Friday morning and took him into custody. Soto was interviewed and confessed to evading an attempted traffic stop by Officer Churchwell on Nov. 2.
Midland Police and Fire Departments responded to the accident at approximately 2:23 p.m. on Nov. 2 in the southbound lanes of Loop 250 between Highway 80 and Interstate 20. The investigation revealed that Churchwell was pursuing the operator of a motorcycle that was weaving in and out of traffic at a high rate of speed in the southbound main lanes of South Loop 250 West. Churchwell lost control of his patrol cruiser for unknown reasons after driving on the Highway 80 overpass and crashed in between the main lanes and service lanes of the roadway. The motorcyclist, who has since been identified as Soto, continued southbound on Loop 250.
Officer Churchwell remains in stable condition.
###Media Contact: Public Information Officer Sara Bustilloz