Suspect leads Ferndale police on high-speed chase before crashing, running

FERNDALE, MIch. (WJBK) -
A traffic stop turned into a wild ride in Ferndale when a driver makes a run for it - and even a crash couldn't slow him down.

Officers attempting to stop a driver for making a bad turn, were led on a high speed chase on Nine Mile and was captured on dash cam footage as he crashes into two other vehicles.

Ferndale police says the suspect made an incorrect turn on a red light, turning right from Woodard onto eastbound Nine Mile.

"The driver initially looked like he was going to pull over, then changed his mind and began to flee high-speed," said Lt. William Wilson, Ferndale police.

The chase Friday morning was caught on camera. The older model van then van then blows another red light at Hilton.

"It was a rainy crowded day," Wilson said. "Our officer pursued him a little bit and decided to back off and was going to terminate the chase because of the dangerous conditions."

Then, the officer sees the van collide with one vehicle, then fishtail into the other. You can see in the distance, the suspect abandoning the van and starting to run, hopping a 10-foot tall barbed wire fence, injuring his hands.

He ran through the yards of a few houses in this neighborhood off nine mile before he was arrested by Ferndale and Hazel Park Police.

Police say the suspect is 28-year-old Pontiac resident Travis Lee. Investigators say he was only trying to avoid additional trouble for driving with a suspended license.

"Realistically with a suspended license he probably would have gotten a fine at most," Wilson said. "Now he's looking at up to five years in prison."

Now Lee is doing time in jail, charged with fleeing and eluding, resisting arrest, and the maximum one year misdemeanor charge, for driving on a suspended license. His bond is set at $16,000.

"This is one that we take it full out and charge to the maximum," Wilson said.