Wild, stolen car chase ends with crash, Taser, 2 arrests
Pursuit plays out like a scene from a Hollywood thriller
WOONSOCKET — A high-speed vehicle chase ended in a crash and led to the arrest of a Providence man on a string of charges that includes possession of a stolen motor vehicle, possession of the powerful opioid fentanyl and eluding police.
Henry G. Betances Chaves, 22, of 148 Nelson St., was attempting to flee on foot after crashing the black 2012 BMW into a wall on South Main Street when he was captured, about 4 p.m. on Monday. Patrol Officer Cory R. Johnson subdued Betances Chaves by shooting him with a Taser.
The officer had begun chasing the vehicle a few minutes earlier, after a registration check confirmed the BMW had been stolen out of North Providence – a check Johnson initiated because of an unlawful windshield tint. During the zig-zag pursuit through
the compact streets of the Fairmount section, one passenger jumped out of the vehicle, but another was still inside after the crash.
Identified as Allia Abodaher, 20, of 37 Harlam St., Providence, police said she was wanted by the Cranston Police Department on a warrant for possession of a stolen motor vehicle.
The jumper was later captured and released without charges after questioning.
Betances Chaves was also charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving an attended vehicle – the cruiser operated by
Officer Johnson – and driving after a license suspension.
The chase began in the Veterans
Memorial Family Housing Development and had Johnson and other officers on edge from the outset, when Johnson ordered Betances
Chaves to turn off the ignition and get out of the vehicle with his hands up. The officer was standing behind the open door of his parked cruiser with his sidearm drawn for a motor vehicle stop already deemed highrisk because it involved a stolen car.
Betances Chaves was backing out of a parking space on Bourdon Boulevard at the time. Instead of stopping, he backed into the officer’s cruiser, shifted gears and bolted.
“The vehicle backed out of the parking spot hitting the left side of my cruiser push bar, forcing the vehicle to shake which caused me to jump back not knowing if I was going to get hit by my vehicle door or the stolen vehicle,” Johnson reported.
Johnson got back in the cruiser and began chasing the BMW along Mason Street, Sunnyside Drive and Olo Street. The vehicle slowed down near East and Hope streets, at which point a passenger made a getaway by jumping from the back seat and running off.
The BMW nearly crashed head-on into another cruiser after turning onto West Street, jumping the curb and traveling on the sidewalk to dodge the attempted blockade.
The pursuit gained speed considerably after the BMW found its way to straightaway South Main Street. In attempts to outrun Johnson, the BMW whizzed passed a motorist on the inside. Johnson followed suit, getting a flat tire as the wheels scraped against the curb on the sidewalk.
For safety reasons, Johnson was just about to call off the chase when he saw the BMW crash into a stone wall in front of a house near South Main and Bradford streets.
After crashing, Betances Chaves began running away foot. As he did so, Johnson saw him reaching into his pockets and waistband – another moment of high-anxiety for the officer, who thought the fugitive might be reaching for a weapon.
What Betances Chaves allegedly pulled out of his pockets wasn’t a weapon, however; it was two bags of a white powder substance that later tested positive for fentanyl, a synthetic opioid many times more powerful than heroin. The health department says it’s increasingly been linked to fatal opioid overdoses in the state for the last several years.
The officer saw Betances Chaves toss them onto the ground as he fled.
The officer fired his Taser into Betances Chaves’ back during the foot pursuit, slowing him down long enough for Johnson and other officers to handcuff him. He was later transported to Landmark Medical Center for removal of the Taser prongs from his body – standard operating procedure when a suspect is apprehended with a Taser, a weapon that disables with a stunning jolt of electricity.