Police Chase Suspect Is Bipolar, Father Says
Father says this wasn't his son's first police chase
By FRANK HEINZ, STACY MORROW and RANDY MCILWAIN
Updated 8:14 AM CST, Tue, Jun 30, 2009
The man left in critical condition after leading police on a 90-minute chase that ended in a collision has bipolar disorder, his father said.
The chase started at about 12:58 p.m. near Interstate 30 and Interstate 635 in Mesquite when Dallas County Constables attempted to pull over Shane William Michel for a routine traffic stop. Police said the 29-year-old driver fled instead of stopping.
Officers then learned Michel was wanted for several controlled substance violations, police said.
Over the course of the chase, Michel led police through downtown, into North Dallas and back to I-635. He struck the back of a big rig, drove through road signs, railroad crossing arms and medians.
The chase ended at about 2:30 p.m. when Michel was T-boned by a truck as both vehicles entered the intersection of Plano Road and Buckingham Road in Garland.
The driver of the truck appeared to be OK after being spotted walking around and talking to people at the scene.
Officers surrounded Michel's car and soon firefighters arrived to extricate him.
Michel's father, Bill Michel, said his son is bipolar and that this wasn't his son's first police chase.
“Well regardless of what he is, he's my son and I still love him,” said Bill Michel.
He said his son suffered fractures to his face and hip and severed his aorta. He is currently undergoing emergency surgery at Baylor Medical Center in Dallas.
“It's happened before, he never wrecked before. This time he did,” said Bill Michel.
He said his son has also served time in prison for drugs.
“He's not bad. He just gets confused and panics and he doesn't think that's his problem," he explained. "When stress kicks in, he can't handle it, he can't handle stress.”
Bill Michel said he believes his son didn’t take his medication and the side effect of that was the chase that played out as live breaking news on television.
In the past, Bill Michel said he’s worked with police and got them to stop the pursuit, and he attempted that again when officers showed up at his door to alert him to what was happening.
Dallas County constables agreed to stop the chase, but state troopers never got the message and continued, he said.
Bill Michel said he wants people to know his son isn’t a monster, just a person trying to manage a mental disorder, and not always successfully.
“Why he ran? Nobody knows, he (doesn't) know either," Bill Michel said. "Because all it was, was a traffic stop, that’s all."
First Published: Jun 29, 2009 1:42 PM CST
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