Dashcam video shows suspected burglar killed in chase with Arlington police
Dashcam video released Tuesday by the Arlington Police Department shows a chase that led to the death of a burglary suspect who crashed a stolen pickup in a parking lot.
Within minutes after the chase began in December, David Hernandez, driving a stolen pickup truck, swerved to avoid a vehicle at an Arlington intersection and lost control of the vehicle, crashing through two vehicles in a parking lot, smashing a utility pole and coming to rest upside down in a Kroger parking, according to the video obtained by the Star-Telegram.
An Arlington officer can be heard saying, “I don’t know that he survived this.”
Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene on Dec. 3.
“The administration case remains under investigation,” said Arlington police Lt. Christopher Cook in a Thursday email.
On Dec. 3, Irving police had alerted Arlington police that Hernandez was in Arlington and was wanted in a series of restaurant burglaries in Irving.
Shortly after 2 p.m., an Arlington police officer saw a man matching the description of the suspect and the reported stolen vehicle near North Oak Street and Fuller Street in Arlington. The pickup was stolen in Granbury.
Arlington officers attempted to stop the vehicle near Mesquite Street and Randol Mill Road in Arlington, but the man fled in the pickup, according to an Arlington police news release in December.
The man lost control of the pickup and crashed about 2:15 p.m. on Dec. 3 outside Kroger near West Abram Street and South Bowen Road, Arlington police said.
Hernandez had been a suspect in a series of restaurant burglaries in Irving at the time he died, Irving police said.
Hernandez had been accused in the Nov. 20 burglary of a restaurant in the 1600 block of E. Lamar Blvd. in Arlington.
He was arrested a short time later when Arlington police found Hernandez and another man sleeping in a vehicle that had been reported stolen.
Hernandez was a possible suspect in other property crimes in Arlington, Arlington police said.
He was released from the Tarrant County Jail on Nov. 25 after being arrested and accused of burglary of a building and unauthorized use of a vehicle in Arlington.
He posted $3,000 bond on that day.
This story was originally published March 19, 2020 at 11:39 AM.
