Court records and news archives reveal chases past schools and a standoff that lasted two hours. They also reveal crashes and gunfire.
By Staff Reports
One stolen pickup raced through a daycare parking lot and an elementary school parking lot. It then went airborne in a field.
Another driver topped 90 mph with a child, 5, inside the vehicle. Crandall police ended the pursuit because the danger had become too great.
A motorcycle fleeing police at speeds approaching 150 mph passed through Crandall. The chase lasted an hour and stretched from Kaufman County to Dallas and back again.
More recently, a stolen vehicle pursuit approached Noble-Reed Elementary School. Crandall ISD temporarily paused dismissal, and officers used spike strips to end the chase.
Those incidents are part of a decade of police pursuits and fleeing driver cases. All are connected to Crandall and the U.S. Highway 175 corridor.
The review covered court opinions and police accounts. It also covered archived news reports and other public records.
It found at least eight significant incidents since 2016. Some involved Crandall police directly. Others occurred in or near Crandall or brought pursuits from neighboring agencies through the community.
They are not necessarily every pursuit during that period. Crandall does not publish a comprehensive annual pursuit report.
Such a report would show how many chases officers initiate and how fast they become. It would also show why officers pursue and how often vehicles crash. And it would show how often supervisors order a pursuit terminated.
What can be documented publicly shows that some pursuits have carried extraordinary risks.
July 2016: Nearly 150 MPH Through Crandall
One of the fastest publicly documented pursuits connected to Crandall began in Kemp on July 20, 2016. Kemp police started chasing a motorcycle westbound on U.S. Highway 175 shortly after 10 p.m.
The motorcycle traveled through Kaufman and Crandall and into Dallas County. The pursuit expanded to include multiple agencies. Authorities reported speeds above 100 mph and at times approaching 150 mph.
A Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter joined the operation near the Dallas and Kaufman county line. The motorcyclist continued into downtown Dallas and traveled north on U.S. Highway 75. He turned around near Lemmon Avenue and headed back toward Kaufman County.
The chase ended near Kemp when the motorcycle crashed near State Highway 274 and FM 148. The rider tried to escape on foot but was apprehended.
Crandall Police Department was listed among the agencies assisting. Kemp police, rather than Crandall police, initiated the chase.
The incident still showed one of Crandall’s recurring risks. U.S. 175 can quickly bring a chase that began elsewhere directly through the community.
Days Later: Another Chase Near Crandall
Just days later, another fleeing vehicle traveled from Kaufman County through the Crandall area toward Seagoville. Authorities began pursuing a four door Dodge pickup on U.S. 175 at about 3:15 a.m. on July 23, 2016.
The publicly available account did not identify which agency initiated the pursuit. It also did not say why officers originally tried to stop the truck.
The vehicle fled west into Dallas County and exited near FM 1389. It traveled along the service road and cut through a field west of Willis Road in Seagoville.
Two people reportedly abandoned the vehicle and fled into a wooded creek area. Crandall police and Kaufman County sheriff’s deputies joined the search. So did Seagoville police and a DPS helicopter.
Authorities eventually called off the search without locating the two suspects.
August 2016: Through School Parking Lots
A Texas appellate court opinion provides far more detail about another 2016 pursuit involving Crandall officers. On Aug. 19, 2016, Ulises Rios discovered that his pickup had been stolen.
Later that day, he spotted the truck while driving in Kaufman. He followed it and communicated with authorities.
According to testimony summarized by the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas, the stolen truck reached about 100 mph. It was traveling toward Crandall.
Crandall Police Officer Joseph Riccelli received information about the vehicle and waited along U.S. 175. When the truck passed him, he activated his emergency lights and siren and followed. The driver did not stop.
What happened next made the pursuit particularly dangerous.
According to the appellate opinion, the truck raced through a daycare parking lot and then an elementary school parking lot. It crossed a roadway and drove into a field. It went airborne.
The truck finally stopped in a church parking lot with a broken front axle and three damaged tires. The driver fled on foot.
Crandall officers set up a perimeter and eventually found Michael Shane Allgood hiding in a drainage ditch.
The case resulted in far more than an arrest that night. A jury later convicted Allgood of evading arrest or detention while using a motor vehicle. After enhancement findings, the jury sentenced him to 60 years in prison. The Fifth Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment in 2018.
The case remains one of the clearest examples of how dangerous a Crandall pursuit can become. A fleeing driver can leave the highway and enter areas where children and pedestrians could be present.
2017: Police Terminate a 90 MPH Chase
A pursuit the following year illustrates the opposite decision. Officers chose not to continue.
In July 2017, authorities were looking for Megan Michelle Boulter after an alleged shoplifting incident at a Kaufman Walmart. Kaufman police said she fled the store with her daughter, 5. They also said she tried to strike a loss prevention employee with her vehicle.
Crandall police later spotted her vehicle on U.S. 175 and attempted a traffic stop. She did not stop.
Authorities reported that the vehicle exceeded 90 mph. It also passed other motorists using the highway shoulder.
Officers also knew something especially important. The child was still inside.
Crandall police terminated the pursuit because of the child’s presence and the driver’s dangerous behavior. Boulter remained wanted after the chase but eventually surrendered to Kaufman police.
The incident offers an important comparison with pursuits that continued until a crash or a vehicle failure. Others continued until a spike strip deployment or an arrest.
Police pursuits are not simply decisions about whether to chase. Officers and supervisors must keep deciding whether an immediate capture outweighs the danger the pursuit creates. That danger reaches passengers and officers. It also reaches pedestrians and other motorists.
In this case, Crandall officers chose to stop chasing.
2020: Pursuit Becomes Two Hour Standoff
Another Crandall pursuit brought a major section of U.S. 175 to a standstill on Nov. 13, 2020. At about 9:20 a.m., Crandall police responded to a report of a reckless driver. They became involved in a pursuit of a pickup truck.
The pursuit traveled east on U.S. 175 toward Kaufman. It ended on the highway near the turnaround bridge west of State Highway 243.
But the incident was not over. The driver refused officers’ commands, and a standoff began that lasted about two hours.
Kaufman police and the Kaufman County Sheriff’s Office joined Crandall police. So did Terrell SWAT and constable officers. DPS and other responders also arrived.
U.S. 175 and its frontage roads were affected while authorities dealt with the barricaded driver. At about 11:35 a.m., officers took one suspect into custody and the roadways reopened.
The case shows another possible consequence of a pursuit beyond crashes and injuries. A chase on a major regional highway can become an extended emergency. It can affect motorists and require resources from several agencies.
2022: Wrong Way Driver Ends in Tragedy
The deadliest incident in this review requires an important distinction. Public accounts do not establish that Crandall officers were engaged in a conventional high speed pursuit before an Aug. 7, 2022, crash that killed three people.
But the incident shows the difficult decisions officers face. They must confront a driver who is already creating extreme danger.
Shortly after 1 a.m., Crandall police received reports of a blue Chevrolet pickup traveling the wrong direction on U.S. 175. Officers located the pickup traveling west in the eastbound lanes.
According to police accounts, officers tried to get the driver’s attention with their spotlights. Instead, the driver accelerated and continued toward Seagoville.
Near FM 1389, the pickup collided head on with a Toyota sedan. Two women and a young child inside the Toyota were killed. Another pickup then struck the Toyota. The wrong way driver was critically injured.
Available accounts describe officers trying to alert the driver. They do not clearly establish an active police pursuit. For that reason, the crash should not be counted as a Crandall PD pursuit without the underlying incident, dispatch and vehicle records.
It nevertheless represents the most tragic example in this review. It shows what can happen when a driver refuses to stop.
February 2025: Chase Ends With Gunfire
On Feb. 4, 2025, another pursuit brought danger into Crandall. Crandall police did not initiate it.
A Kaufman County sheriff’s deputy attempted a traffic stop on U.S. 175. The driver refused to stop, and a vehicle pursuit began. The chase ended on the frontage road in Crandall.
Authorities said the suspect abandoned the vehicle and tried to flee on foot. The incident then escalated dramatically.
According to authorities, the suspect fired at deputies. Deputies returned fire and struck the suspect. He was taken to a hospital, and DPS reported that he was in stable condition. No deputies were reported injured.
The Texas Rangers investigated the shooting.
For Crandall residents, the incident illustrated another reality of life along U.S. 175. A pursuit does not have to begin with a Crandall officer to end inside Crandall.
September 2025: Chase Approaches Elementary School
One of the most recent Crandall PD pursuits again involved a school. On Sept. 12, 2025, the department’s Flock Safety license plate camera system alerted officers that a stolen vehicle had entered Wildcat Ranch.
A Crandall canine officer located the vehicle. He attempted a traffic stop in the 2000 block of Wildcat Trail. The driver refused to stop.
Police pursued the vehicle toward Noble-Reed Elementary School. The incident was occurring near the campus during dismissal time. Crandall ISD temporarily paused student dismissal as a precaution.
The pursuit continued toward North FM 148. This time, officers had another option.
Police deployed tire deflation devices and stopped the stolen vehicle. The driver abandoned it and fled into a wooded area. Officers continued the pursuit on foot and captured the suspect.
The publicly available account identified no injuries tied to the pursuit.
The case shows how technology can work on both sides of a pursuit. Flock cameras helped police locate the stolen vehicle. Spike strips let officers disable it without waiting for the driver to stop voluntarily.
Crandall’s Jurisdiction Is Growing
Crandall’s pursuit issue is no longer limited to a small municipal boundary. The city says its police department provides services through interlocal agreements. They cover Heartland, Wildcat Ranch, Highbridge and Eastland.
That means an accurate review cannot simply search for chases inside the traditional city limits. The September 2025 Wildcat Ranch pursuit illustrates the point.
Residential development continues around Crandall and along the U.S. 175 corridor. Officers potentially encounter more motorists and more neighborhoods. They also encounter more school traffic.
Each of those raises the chance that a fleeing vehicle will put uninvolved residents at risk.
What Residents Still Don’t Know
Eight documented incidents make a far more complete picture than examining only the most recent pursuit. They still do not provide the most important number.
How many pursuits has Crandall Police Department actually conducted?
The city’s website provides a process for requesting police records. But Crandall does not appear to publish a comprehensive pursuit database or annual pursuit report. Residents cannot answer that question directly.
A complete review should identify every pursuit initiated by Crandall officers. It should also identify every pursuit in which Crandall officers participated.
For each chase, the records should show why officers first tried to stop the vehicle. They should show the highest recorded speed and the distance and duration. They should show how many police vehicles were involved.
The records should also show any crashes or injuries. They should show arrests and charges. They should show whether officers used spike strips or other tactics. And they should show whether a supervisor ordered the pursuit terminated.
Those records would also let residents distinguish violent offenders from drivers fleeing minor traffic stops.
That distinction matters, because the publicly documented cases already show dramatically different circumstances.
One involved a stolen vehicle approaching an elementary school. One involved a driver carrying a child, 5. Another began with a reckless driver complaint.
One fleeing vehicle raced through school and daycare parking lots. Other pursuits were initiated by outside agencies. They passed through or ended in the Crandall area.
In at least one case, Crandall police decided that continuing the chase posed too much danger. They terminated it.
The Bigger Question
Police pursuits force officers to balance two competing public safety risks. If a fleeing suspect escapes, that person may keep endangering the public. The suspect may also avoid arrest for a serious crime.
If officers keep pursuing, the chase itself can expose motorists and passengers to vehicles traveling at extraordinary speeds. It can also endanger pedestrians and officers and whole neighborhoods.
Crandall’s publicly documented history offers examples of both sides of that decision. Pursuits have ended in crashes and foot chases. They have ended with spike strips and a standoff and gunfire.
There has also been a pursuit that officers deliberately terminated because a child was inside the fleeing vehicle.
What remains missing is the complete record. Without it, no one can determine whether these cases are unusual events spread across a decade or part of a larger pattern.
Until those records are examined, residents can see some of Crandall’s most dangerous pursuits. They still cannot see all of them.
