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Teen leads police on chase By Philip Jankowski Taylor Police and Pct. 4 Constables arrested and charged a man with evading arrest Wednesday after he led police on a brief chase from Taylor to Hutto. The driver, 19-year-old Joshua Montgomery of Taylor, fueled up his Buick sedan at the Diamond Shamrock on Main Street in Taylor with more than $30 worth of gas without paying, Taylor Police Capt. Don Georgens said. A passenger in Montgomery’s vehicle pumped the gas, Georgens said. The clerk at the Diamond Shamrock, Mitchell Jakobeit, alerted police, and a witness following Montgomery called police on a cell phone and reported his position to police while pursuing Montgomery westbound on Hwy 79, Georgens said. Jakobeit said he recognized the passenger, wondering why a regular customer would steal from the gas station. “I know his face. It’s a small town. Why would he steal from here?” Jakobeit said The Diamond Shamrock allows customers to pump gas before paying as a courtesy, but because of the thefts, may require customers to prepay, he said. “We do that for honest people. We shouldn’t punish them because of one in a thousand,” Jakobeit said. Neither Jakobeit nor Taylor police have noticed an increase in gas thefts. As Taylor police attempted to find Montgomery’s vehicle, they contacted the constable’s office. Chief Deputy Mark Birchard was driving home when a Taylor police officer signaled for him to turn his radio on and see if the constable’s office had an officer towards Hutto. They did. A deputy constable caught up with Montgomery near Hutto’s city limits and attempted to pull Montgomery over. Montgomery would not comply, Georgens said, and led officers into a residential area. Montgomery fled the vehicle and led officers on a foot pursuit through the neighborhood. The passenger remained in the Buick, and officers apprehended him. Officers had difficulty following Montgomery as he hurdled six-foot fences between houses “like they weren’t even there,” Birchard said. One officer stood on top of a shed to try and maintain a visual and make sure Montgomery did not lose them, but officers were unable to locate him. Shortly after, a woman came out of her home screaming that a man was inside and that she had two young children in the house, Birchard said. “This woman was obviously fearing for her life and her children,” he said. Montgomery was arrested inside the home on the 300 block of Lone Star Boulevard without incident, Birchard said. Montgomery was charged with evading arrest in a vehicle, a state jail felony, theft of gas, a class-C misdemeanor, and trespass of a habitation, a class-A misdemeanor. The passenger was charged with theft of gas, a class-C misdemeanor. What could have ended with a $500 fine for Montgomery turned into the possible penalty of 180 days to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. “The obvious thing was he could’ve been given the opportunity to make restitution on the scene,” Birchard said. “In this case it was obvious they had no intention of paying, otherwise they would’ve stopped.”
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