One person is in custody after multi-county chase ended in Milam County

MILAM COUNTY, Texas (KBTX) – A suspect is in custody after a multi-county chase that ended in Milam County this weekend.

The pursuit began following a report of a kidnapping that originated in Temple, Texas. Both Temple Police and Milam County Sheriff’s Office chased the suspect while he had a female and baby inside the car. The male suspect was identified as 27-year-old Paul Rodriguez.

The female caller stated she was being forced to drive around town by a male in the car with a gun in his lap with a child in the vehicle.

The Milam County Sheriff’s Office says the chase started in Temple, traveled through Rogers, then Buckholts, and ended on the border of Cameron.

Temple Police say a female caller said she was forced to drive around town with Rodriguez while he had a gun in his lap.

The chase ended when Rodriguez drove into a field, through two fences, into a stock pond, and subsequently ran away. He left the female and child behind in the vehicle when he fled.

The Milam County Sheriff’s Office then used a drone with a thermal imaging camera to locate the suspect. The suspect was quickly caught and taken into custody when he tried to enter a home.

“We followed with the drone camera while the person jumped over a couple of fences. We worked to get units up close to where he was at. He ultimately went into a residential property where a house was sitting there. He went up to the front door, was banging on the front door when our units successfully arrived, and took him into custody,” said John Helenberg, the Special Operations Lieutenant at Milam County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office says once they brought the drone out, they found Rodriguez within ten minutes.

The Milam County Sheriff’s Office says Rodriguez then became unresponsive and received multiple doses of Narcan. He was then taken to Baylor Scott and White and monitored for drug ingestion.

After the suspect was cleared, he was arrested on felony charges of evading arrest in a vehicle, child endangerment, and possession.

The sheriff’s office says the female and her daughter were unharmed. Temple Police say the victim did know the suspect.

“The victims inside the car reported to 9-1-1 that the car had to come to rest inside of water, so when we found them, the front end of the vehicle was in some type of water,” said Helenberg.

Temple police, Milam County Sheriff’s Office, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Wardens assisted in the investigation.

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