OK Deputy chases his own car, 120 MPH 25 mile chase, shots fired, Suspect rolls police car 5 times
1/14/2005
By By Tippi Rasp-Staff Writer                                 

One minute, career criminal Billy Gurney was being handcuffed by a county sheriff’s deputy. Moments later, he was behind the wheel of the deputy’s car leading the lawman on a high-speed chase.

Gurney, 34, managed to escape from handcuffs, slide into the driver’s seat and lead Garfield County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt Mixon on a chase that lasted more than 20 minutes and reached speeds of more than 100 miles per hour. Mixon, driving Gurney’s stolen car, clipped the back end of the patrol car, causing Gurney to spin out of control and flip the car several times.
Neither Mixon nor Gurney was injured.

A camera mounted in Mixon’s car caught the entire event on tape. In the video, Mixon can be seen walking cautiously around the vehicle Gurney was in minutes after 9 a.m. After circling the car, Mixon turned it off and took the keys.

"I said, ‘I’m gonna get the keys out of it (the suspect’s car) so I don’t get in a pursuit,’" Mixon said while reviewing the tape.

Mixon then opened the back door of the Eagle Vision, woke Gurney and began asking questions. Mixon can be seen handcuffing Gurney behind his back and heard asking him several times to remain in one spot. Mixon put Gurney in the front seat of his patrol car, then went to inspect the car.

While Mixon was inspecting the vehicle, Gurney managed to release one hand from the cuffs, slide into the driver’s seat, put the car in reverse and take off. Mixon tried shooting out the car’s tires before hopping into the stolen car and chasing Gurney.

Gurney, originally parked on Garland, just south of Wheat Capital, drove west on Wheat Capital, then south on Imo Road, west on Longhorn, then south on Oklahoma 132 to U.S. 51. Mixon performed the tactical maneuver two miles west of Oklahoma 132 on U.S. 51.

Gurney barely slowed through the town of Drummond, ran through stop signs, and barely missed striking a van and a tractor trailer. Mixon said Gurney was going so fast over a set of railroad tracks, he could see horizon under his car.

Apparently Gurney was ejected from the car during the crash. On the video, Mixon said he can count his car flipping up to five times. "He got up and took off running," Mixon said of Gurney. He was able to "run another quarter of a mile or so."

After the crash, Gurney ran on foot. Mixon chased him and used a Taser to subdue him. Mixon said a passerby helped subdue and watch Gurney while he went inside a home to call the sheriff’s office for backup. Another passerby helped put out the car fire the crash had caused. Other deputies and the jail administrator listening to the radio were worried when Mixon didn’t answer calls.

"I got a cold chill down my back when you wouldn’t answer your radio," Don Von Hagel told Mixon. Von Hagel, jail administrator, was taking prisoners to the Grant County Jail while the dispatcher waited for a radio response from Mixon.

Mixon was on patrol for only the second time without a K-9 partner in his 18-year career.

Lucky for Gurney, Mixon’s partner, Bruno, was taking a sick day.
"I don’t think it would have gotten that far if Bruno was in the car," Mixon said.

Mixon typically leaves the window to Bruno’s back seat cage unlatched in case a suspect tries to grab Mixon’s gun while in the patrol car. Bruno has helped Mixon before by pushing the window open with his nose and foiling an attempt by a suspect who was trying for the deputy’s gun. Bruno was injured on the job Monday night after cutting his leg on a piece of tin in a culvert. The injury required several stitches and is expected to sideline Bruno until next week.

"Bruno was on workman’s comp," Sheriff Bill Winchester said while relaying the specifics of the chase.

Gurney is in the Garfield County Jail and is expected to be charged with a number of offenses, including possession of stolen property, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, escape from detention, felony attempting to elude lawmen, driving under suspension and no seat belt. The Eagle Vision was reported stolen Jan. 7 in Sayre.

His criminal history includes arrests in Ohio, Nevada, Arizona, Oklahoma and Alaska and includes offenses such as disorderly conduct, possession of stolen property, drug possession, larceny of auto, vehicular assault, assault and aggravated vehicular assault. He was arrested in December on complaints of eluding police, damaging property and failure to pay fines.

Lawmen from Hennessey Police Department, Kingfisher County Sheriff’s Office and Oklahoma Highway Patrol assisted after the crash.