Suspected smugglers lead SV police on wild pursuit
Posted: Mar 16, 2011 7:11 PM CDT
Updated: Mar 17, 2011 1:18 PM CDT
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Suspected smugglers lead SV police on wild pursuit
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Reporter: Sergio Avila

Sierra Vista, Ariz. (KGUN9-TV) - Sierra Vista Police are still looking for two suspected smugglers who led them on a wild chase that ended on Fort Huachuca property.

People living in the quiet community where the chase started told KGUN9 they noticed some suspicious activity when a new neighbor moved in. Quentin Mendez thought the people living there might be up to no good.

"I just saw people walking in and out, um, awkwardly, but you could tell they might be doing something in there," Mendez said. Other neighbors thought it was so suspicious they called the cops. Officer Tracy Grady told KGUN9 News when officers arrived, things got pretty intense.

"The garage door to the residence started going up and the vehicle came out of the garage. Before the door got all the way up, it backed out and struck one of our patrol vehicles," Grady said.

The suspects injured an officer and when they sped off they nearly hit another. Detectives saw two men in the car and opened fire, but the pair got away. One neighbor remembered hearing about six or seven shots. Officers at the scene said they believe the home was being used for smuggling of some kind, either human or drugs.

The suspects raced down residential streets until coming to a cul-de-sac, but that didn't slow them down. They smashed through a fence, then a concrete wall, and kept driving to reach the highway.

Abram Jack and his mom actually watched the chase pass them while they were running errands and then got a call that their house had been hit.

"I was absolutely shocked because my dad was always telling my mother what if someone actually goes through the house, we're right next to the highway so. I'm just lucky no one got hurt," Jack said.

The suspected smugglers raced down Soldier Trail Blvd. and turned into the Veterans Memorial Cemetery, on Fort Huachuca military property. They smashed through a back fence there and led officer up the Huachuca Mountains. Then they crashed their SUV and have yet to be found. The only description of the pair is that they are two males.

The officer that was injured at the beginning of the chase was treated and released from the hospital. He's expected to miss several days of work.

http://www.kgun9.com/global/story.asp?s=14266750