A suspect wanted in connection to a murder led officers on a chase Tuesday across Southern California but a truck driver decided to help end the pursuit.
Big rig driver Ahmed Shabaan attempted to end the chase by blocking the pickup truck’s path. He explained he knew a murder suspect was involved so he tracked the driver and maneuvered his rig so the suspect’s truck would crash into it near a Pomona intersection.
“I just thought to get him off the street because if I didn’t… if they’d been behind him for that long and didn’t stop him… I have the power,” Shabaan told Fox 11.
Prior to the crash, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department had been looking for the suspect but when deputies tried to contact the man, he reportedly attacked a deputy and took off in a pickup truck.
The chase took authorities across Riverside County and on to East San Gabriel. The suspect’s vehicle reportedly reached speeds of over 90 miles per hour on the 60 Freeway.
Aerial video footage showed the moment the suspect’s pickup truck rammed into Shabaan’s big rig as multiple law enforcement vehicles approached from behind:
“It is instinct for me, it’s natural for me,” Shabaan said of his actions. “I was waiting for him. I was trying to see where he’s at exactly so I can pinpoint him, and then I blocked him.”
Following the crash, the suspect was taken into custody and his passenger interviewed before deputies released her.
The passenger identified herself as Roxy and claimed she did not know that the driver, who is reportedly a friend from Bakersfield, was wanted in connection with a murder.
The suspect was transported to the hospital but Roxy and Shabaan reportedly were fine after the incident.
The Los Angeles Times later identified the suspect as 36-year-old Michael Caleb Reed.
“Reed is suspected in the shooting death of a 40-year-old man in Oildale in late March,” the outlet concluded.