Burleson police had been watching for bank robbers

One of the two Burleson police detectives shot last week said they had been paying close attention to area banks because of multiple robberies in Arlington and tips that someone may have been casing banks in their city.

“We were kind of keeping an eye on things,” Detective Nick Grace said Monday.

Grace and partner David Feucht were shot Friday while apprehending a bank robbery suspect. Feucht suffered multiple gunshot wounds and continues to be treated at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, where he was listed Monday in good but stable condition.

Grace, who had a minor leg wound, is resting at home with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children, ages 2 through 10.

The suspect, Andre Jackson Jr., 19, of Grand Prairie, remains in the Johnson County Jail facing two charges of aggravated assault on a peace officer and one charge of aggravated robbery. Bail is set at $1.5 million.

Grace, who was released from the hospital not long after the shooting, said the bullet that hit him passed through Feucht‘s body first before it hit him in the thigh, never breaking his skin.

“My family has been very supportive and I feel very blessed to just come out of this with a bruise on the leg,” Grace said in a telephone interview Monday. “I love my job and have accepted the risk of doing this job a long time ago. I’m sure that right now, my wife and parents would prefer me to do something else. I guess getting injured is always in the back of our minds, but when you have something like this happen it makes everything seem very real.”

Grace said he expects to return to work after the Christmas holidays. Feucht will have to spend significant time recovering, but Grace said he expects his friend to make a full recovery.

Grace said his 10-year-old son was more upset about the incident than he was.

“Someone had said something about it to him and he had not gotten a chance to talk to me at that time,” Grace said. “When I called him he was crying and kind of upset. I needed to tell him that I was all right.”

‘Just thank you’

Grace and Feucht, who are plainclothes detectives, had been monitoring radio traffic when the call came in about noon Friday from the Wells Fargo bank that a suspicious person was walking in and out.

After robbing the bank, the suspect headed toward a 7-Eleven a short distance away, in the 400 block of East Renfro Street in Burleson, according to police.

Grace and Feucht approached the suspect at the 7-Eleven, and after they identified themselves as police officers, the suspect opened fire, wounding them both. Witnesses said numerous shots were fired.

At one officer got off one round, but authorities have not released details about whether both officers fired.

Grace said he cannot go into any detail about what happened that day because the robbery is still the subject of an FBI and police investigation. Police continue to look for possible accomplices and connections to other bank robberies, the city said in a news release.

Grace said his heart went out to the families of the two officers in New York who died in an ambush Saturday, but he declined to comment further. He said the support he has received, from the hospital staff to police from departments across North Texas, has been unbelievable.

“I don’t know how to express the level of gratitude my family feels for all the love and support we have received,” Grace said. “Just thank you.”

Grace has been with the Burleson police for 10 years, and Feucht is a 23-year veteran of the department.

Suspect’s previous arrest

According to records from the Tarrant County district clerk’s office, Jackson was arrested on two misdemeanor charges by Grand Prairie police in August 2013.

Jackson was sentenced to 12 days in jail and assessed a $417 fine on a theft of property charge greater than $50 but less than $500, and an evading arrest and detention charge in October, court records show.

Jackson was apprehended after taking some children’s clothing from a Grand Prairie store, Grand Prairie police spokesman Lyle Gensler said.

This story was originally published December 22, 2014 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Burleson police had been watching for bank robbers."