Police: Teen ran over, killed man in sleeping bag during Grand Prairie pursuit

An Irving teenager was in custody Wednesday after he was accused of leading authorities on a pursuit and killing a man in a sleeping bag during the chase, police said.

Detectives and agents with the U.S. Marshals Service took the 19-year-old suspect into custody Tuesday in Dallas. Police identified him as David Martinon, who was in the Grand Prairie Jail on Wednesday morning. The victim was identified as Paul Rummelhart, 58, police said. He died at the scene.

The case began about 10:30 p.m. Monday when officers were dispatched to a possible domestic call in the 4500 block of Rosedale Drive.

Witnesses told dispatchers that a man and a woman were arguing outside a residence, and that the man appeared to be intoxicated.

As an officer arrived, Martinon saw the police vehicle, jumped into a truck and drove off, police said.

“The officer began pursuing the suspect based upon the report of a disturbance and the reported intoxication of the driver,” Grand Prairie police spokesman Mark Beseda said.

Martinon drove to a dead-end street on Westchase Drive but made a U-turn and headed back out, police said. At some point, near the 600 block of Westchase Drive, he turned before reaching Dechman Drive, crashed through a chain-link fence and then drove through a small strip of grass to get onto Interstate 20.

Martinon was later arrested in Dallas. At 11:15 p.m. Monday, officers returned to Westchase Drive, where his truck had crashed through the fence, and they found Rummelhart’s body in a sleeping bag.

Martinon, who was in jail with bail set at $500,000, faces charges of manslaughter and evading arrest.

Before the incidents Monday night, Martinon had warrants for felony evading arrest, resisting arrest and misdemeanor traffic violations, police said.

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 11:12 AM with the headline "Police: Teen ran over, killed man in sleeping bag during Grand Prairie pursuit."