KERRVILLE, Texas – A 41-year-old Central Texas man assaulted a woman and threw a child out of a pickup truck he stole at gunpoint and then drove nearly 300 miles before he was finally apprehended in Kendall County, according to the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office.
But law enforcement authorities said Jerry Gardner, of Cedar Park, didn’t give up easily.
Recommended Videos
Gardner was involved in a violent series of encounters, beginning at a gas station in Midland, where the carjacking occurred Friday night, the Kerr County Sheriff’s Office said. It was at the gas station where the suspect assaulted the woman and threw the child out of a moving 2018 Dodge Ram 1500. Gardner then struck a customer who tried to intervene in the carjacking before taking off on Interstate 10.
Authorities seeking public’s help to solve murder case
About 225 miles later in Kimble County, a Texas Department of Public Safety trooper stopped Gardner, but he backed into the trooper’s vehicle, disabling it, sheriff’s officials said.
Kerr County deputies spotted the pickup at Mile Marker 504 and chased after Gardner, who managed to get away after several spike attempts by deputies and the Kerrville Police Department, sheriff’s officials said.
Gardner then crossed the eastbound lanes of Interstate 10 and struck a Kerr County Sheriff’s Office unit, disabling the vehicle, officials said. The deputy in the vehicle was not hurt.
The pursuit by deputies and DPS continued into Kendall County, where at the 533 Mile Marker, the suspect crossed the eastbound lanes and struck a flatbed trailer, disabling the stolen unit, officials said.
Gardner then ran toward a Kendall County deputy and the suspect was shocked with a Taser, the KCSO said. After a brief struggle, he was arrested and taken to the Kerr County Jail, where he is being held on bonds from six charges totaling $528,500.