The multi-state manhunt for 28-year-old De Sean Phang, wanted in connection with a 2023 South Florida murder, concluded with his arrest on Tuesday following a high-speed chase just outside of Colorado Springs. According to Local 10, Phang, who was implicated in a shooting that resulted in the death of Joel Vilsaint, was apprehended more than a thousand miles away from the crime scene.
Phang's pursuit by the law reached speeds of up to 100 mph before ending dramatically in a store parking lot in the Widefield area, the U.S. Marshals Service disclosed. Despite efforts to evade capture after the vehicle stopped, Phang and others were caught, with the chase incidentally causing a car sideswipe involving an innocent driver, as reported by Local 10. No physical injuries ensued from this concatenation of events, despite the potential peril.
Adding details to the unfolding of Phang's arrest, 7News shared witness accounts of the scene. A local resident recounted, "The more I looked towards the Big R, I noticed a lot more cars and a lot more officers with their guns drawn." In tandem with the chase's climax, business was conducted as usual, as Amy Dunavin, an employee at Sassy Shears, described, "I was just finishing a haircut and I was taking the cape off and looked outside, and all I see were cop cars everywhere."
El Paso County jail will hold Phang while he awaits extradition to South Florida. "The mom was like please come inside and I was like 'Yes please get inside, it would probably be safer'," recounted a woman about the chase, per 7News. Dunavin articulated the salon's newfound sense of preparedness, "We did say if anything did happen, we would just have to take everyone to the back of the salon."
