A stolen-vehicle chase through Oklahoma City ended in an unlikely place Tuesday morning — the fence line of a daycare, where a worker on the property tackled the fleeing suspect and held him down until officers arrived. Police say the driver, identified as Jason Bigger, had already driven into oncoming traffic and tried to escape on foot before the daycare worker stepped in.
Flock Camera Alert Kicks Off the Chase
Around 10:45 a.m. on Oct. 20, officers with the Oklahoma City Police Department received a Flock camera notification flagging a stolen vehicle heading northbound from I-240 and South Western Avenue, according to KOKH. Investigators identified the driver as Bigger, who they say refused to stop and led officers on a short pursuit through the area.
At one point during the chase, police say Bigger drove directly into ongoing traffic before eventually bringing the vehicle to a stop at a daycare. From there, according to the same report, he got out and tried to flee on foot by jumping a fence on the property.
Daycare Worker Steps In Before Officers Arrive
That's when a worker at the daycare intervened. Per the outlet's reporting, an officer described the moment in blunt terms: “A daycare worker chased [Bigger] and tackled him detaining him till I and other officers got to him.” The worker held Bigger down until police caught up and took him into custody.
Investigators believe the vehicle Bigger was driving had been stolen from the west side of Oklahoma City a few days before his arrest, the station reported. Bigger now faces complaints of unauthorized use of a vehicle, endangering others while eluding a police officer, failure to stop at a red light, improper passing, speeding over the maximum limit, and driving while suspended, according to the same account.
Other Recent Pursuits Around the Metro
In southeast Oklahoma City, a person was arrested after allegedly failing to pull over for an undercover officer, with police saying the suspect was wanted on drug charges, according to KOCO. In a separate incident reported by the station, a shoplifting suspect fled police in a white lifted pickup, with the pursuit reaching speeds of up to 80 miles per hour before heading off-road.
Elsewhere in the metro, two men were taken into custody in northwest Oklahoma City following a short pursuit involving a vehicle believed to have been stolen, News 9 reported. Oklahoma's Uniform Crime Reporting and State Incident-Based Reporting programs are part of a nationwide statistical effort administered by the FBI, as noted by Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, though no usable totals specific to these pursuits were available for comparison.
