An Arlington, Texas, police officer is lucky to be alive after being run over twice by a fleeing suspect. The suspect was fatally shot by another officer during his attempt to flee.
Arlington Police Department Corporal Elise Bowden was released from John Peter Smith Hospital on Super Bowl Sunday following an incident she did not expect to live through. The 15-year police veteran, and mother of eight, was greeted by a cheering crowd of fellow officers, other co-workers, friends, and relatives as she was wheeled out of the hospital. “I’m just overwhelmed,” she told the crowd.
She was accompanied by Arlington Police Chief Will Johnson, Sergeant Brad Norman and her husband as she exited the hospital.
“Another detective from Dallas who got run over himself came to tell me, ‘You’ll survive this’,” the gutsy police officer told the well-wishers. “I know I will. I already did. Everything I have is mendable.”
On February 1, Cpl. Bowden made a routine traffic stop. A records check on the driver, 23-year-old Tavis Cane, revealed the driver had an outstanding felony warrant from Dallas County. The warrant was for evading arrest. He also had several misdemeanor warrants out of neighboring Grand Prairie, Texas, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Upon learning about the warrants, Bowden called for back-up. Two more Arlington police officers quickly responded. The officers approached Crane and ordered him out of the car. Arlington Police Department spokesman Lt. Christopher Cook told reporters, “She was very polite. The suspect was given so many chances to get out of the vehicle that I’d say she was begging him to get out.”
The second officer, Craig Roper, opened the passenger door of the car and began to enter to attempt to force Crane out of the car.
Bowden was approaching the rear of Crane’s car when he allegedly put the car in reverse, running over Bowden and crashing into her patrol car. The impact on the patrol car was so sever, it knocked the vehicle out of its traffic-stop positioning.
The suspect then put the car in drive and attempted to drive away. He ran over Bowden again while attempting to flee the scene.
Roper then shot Crane from the passenger seat of the vehicle. The car came to a stop before reaching the end of the street.
Two other adults and a toddler were inside the vehicle at the time of the incident, the Fort Worth newspaper reported. No one else was injured in the incident.
The event was captured on two dash cam videos, Cook stated. “It’s a very difficult and hard video to watch. It shows how close to death she was.” The department has not yet released the videos.
Bowden received several broken bones from being run over two times by the car. On Sunday, a smiling officer was wheeled out of the hospital and sent home where she is expected to make a complete recovery. Bowden is in her 15th year of service to the Arlington community.
Officer Roper was placed on administrative leave, as is normal policy for an officer-involved shooting, pending the outcome of the investigation. Roper is in his second year of service to the department.
Crane was transported to Arlington Memorial Hospital after being shot. He died from his wound early Thursday morning. Officers attempted to provide first aid before he was taken to the hospital.
Bob Price serves as associate editor and senior political news contributor for Breitbart Texas. He is a founding member of the Breitbart Texas team. Follow him on Twitter @BobPriceBBTX.
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