Ellinwood, KS - Halloween Domestic Call - Suspect Steals Patrol Truck After Crashing Into It - DWI Crash - Shots Fired At Fleeing Patrol Vehicle

 

Teen flees police in stolen patrol truck

November 2, 2009 GBN news
 

ELLINWOOD — A call to a domestic disturbance on Halloween night turned into a felony case when a teenager reportedly rammed into an Ellinwood Police Department patrol truck and then stole that truck. Shots were fired by an Ellinwood police officer, but no one was injured and the suspect was taken into custody, Sheriff Greg Armstrong said.

Richard L. Diehl III, 18, from Ellinwood, was booked into the Barton County Jail on suspicion of felony theft, felony criminal damage to property, driving under the influence, flee and elude, obstruction of official duty, battery on a law enforcement officer, battery domestic violence and battery. Bond was set at $20,000.

According to Sheriff Armstrong, the Ellinwood officer was dispatched to 515 South Bismark St. on a domestic violence report. A suspect, later identified as Diehl, was reportedly breaking windows on the house. When the Ellinwood officer arrived he attempted to separate Diehl from the victim, and Diehl reportedly hit him in the face.

The sheriff and a BSCO deputy were fueling their patrol vehicles when the initial call came in, and were already preparing to provide backup.

That’s when Diehl reportedly fled, got into his own Ford Crown Victoria and rammed it into the EPD patrol truck, setting off both airbags in the car. Then he got out, fled on foot again, then got into the patrol truck and drove off, the Crown Vic locked to the bumper for about a block and a half, Armstrong said. The officer fired shots at his own vehicle as Diehl drove away.

On their radios, Armstrong and a BSCO deputy heard “shots fired,” but didn’t know who had fired them. “You don’t know what you’re getting into,” he said. The sheriff was even more concerned when he heard Diehl on the police radio, saying, “Tell my wife and kids I love them.”

The patrol truck was spotted in the 500 block of South Main in Ellinwood. Diehl was out of the truck when an officer yelled for him to stop. He was taken into custody without further incident, Armstrong said.