When Michael Laurence Browne, 46, smashed through a security fence at Dallas Love Field Airport and sped onto the active runway, he probably didn’t know that the chase commander briefly authorized deadly force, for fear he may try and ram an aircraft.
It’s all detailed in police car audio recordings obtained Monday by NBCDFW.
Browne is charged with evading arrest, criminal mischief, unauthorized use of a vehicle, aggravated robbery, and one federal count of one count of interfering with security screening personnel.
The dash camera video and audio files obtained by NBCDFW begin that Thursday afternoon, August 19, at 2:25pm.
Police said an undercover officer running license plates discovered the pickup truck Browne was driving was stolen. The officer followed him for four minutes before a marked police cruiser joined in and tried to pull him over.
"Yeah, he knows we’re back here behind him," one officer said.
Anticipating a chase, Dallas PD’s helicopter, Air One, was already called to help look for them.
"Is he southbound yet?," another officer asked, also anticipating an impending police chase. "I’ve got stop sticks down here south of you."
"Alright, I’m gonna light him up," the lead officer said. "I’ve got two squads behind me now."
Police quickly figured out the man in the stolen truck wasn’t going to stop. The chase was on.
Below is a rough translation of what ensued for the next hour:
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2:32 p.m.
MALE OFFICER: "Delta 683, he is reaching under his seat when we lit him up."
DISPATCHER: "He was reaching under his seat."
2:33 p.m.
MALE OFFICER: "Anybody with stop sticks up there?"
DISPATCHER: "Southbound Preston in the northbound lane. Does anyone have stop sticks?"
MALE OFFICER: "683, but I'm trying to get over there."
DISPATCHER: "Ok, 83."
2:35 p.m.
MALE OFFICER: "Yeah, he's staying eastbound. I think this dead ends down here. We've reached a dead end and… Don't know what he's going to do from here. Hang on."
DISPATCHER: "10-4. At the dead end on Church Hill Way."
2:36 p.m.
MALE OFFICER: "He's back westbound, coming out, uh, Hillcrest, it looks like. 663 on second car. 64 is first car, I'll call it."
DISPATCHER: "10-4"
2:37 p.m.
MALE OFFICER: "Traffic on LBJ is, ah, almost at a standstill."
MALE OFFICER: "Air One, where you at?"
DISPATCHER: "Air One?"
AIR ONE: "Air One: Three minutes."
2:38 p.m.
MALE OFFICER: "Bravo 660, go ahead and notify Garland."
2:39 p.m.
MALE OFFICER: "He's gonna go westbound on Forest. Ran a red light."
DISPATCHER: "Westbound Forest. Ran a red light there."
2:40 p.m.
MALE OFFICER: "Still westbound coming up to Sheppard. Passing Sheppard westbound."
DISPATCHER: "Passing Sheppard. Westbound Forest, passing Sheppard."
ANOTHER OFFICER: "He's eastbound if he just passed Sheppard."
MALE OFFICER: "Alright-- Sorry, eastbound. Alright, he's pulling in to a shopping center at Greenville and Forest. Looks like he's gonna go up there and work his way out over to Greenville."
DISPATCHER: "Greenville and Forest. Pulled into a shopping center."
MALE OFFICER: "Looks like he's about to come out on Greenville from this shopping center. He's gonna go southbound on Greenville. Southbound on Greenville from Forest."
AIR ONE: "Air One's out with them. [Unintelligible]. He's in a parking lot. He's on the northwest corner of Greenville [Unintelligible]. He's coming out onto Forest Avenue and he's going westbound on Forest. I have three elements in the chase right now."
2:41 p.m.
AIR ONE: "Air one. He's going southbound on Greenville. Watch the traffic, guys. Watch your cross traffic. And he's got a flat on the left, rear tire. A flat left, rear tire. Excuse me: A flat right, rear tire. Southbound on Greenville Avenue."
As officers follow Browne, Chopper 5 is now overhead and NBC 5 News had broken into regularly scheduled programming to give a live account of this chase through Dallas.
At one point, a dispatcher lets officers know that video what they were doing was now being broadcast live on local and national television.
3:19 p.m.
AIR ONE: "Air One. He's uh Northbound Cedar Springs. Approach… or.. passing General Aviation at this time. He's about to hit… uh… where the big… ah… fork in the road is, where the monument is."
3:20 p.m.
AIR ONE: "Ok, and Air One. If he goes into one of those parking garages, I can't help you. He's continuing northbound Cedar Springs approaching the terminal."
DISPATCHER: "10-4"
AIR ONE: "Air One, notify Airport Police. And he's taking a right and it looks like he's going off onto, uh, Aviation Place. Aviation Place."
DISPATCHER: "Okay. He's on Aviation Place."
OFFICER 1: "Dead end, isn't it?"
OFFICER 2: "It's a dead end."
AIR ONE: "Okay, Air One. He's approaching the dead end."
AIR ONE: "Okay, Air One. He's turning into a parking lot."
DISPATCH: "Turning into a parking lot."
3:21 p.m.
AIR ONE: "Okay, Air One. He's approaching an airport fence, and he just ran through the fence. He's on the runways now."
OFFICER: "Notify [cut off]"
AIR ONE: "Air One, he's on the runways now. He's southbound on, uh, the airport taxiway."
OFFICER: "Bravo 660, have you notified Love Field's, uh, tower?"
DISPATCHER: "10-4. Love Field's being notified."
AIR ONE: "Okay, Air One's continuing southbound on taxiway 1-3 Left."
DISPATCHER: "The Taxiway."
AIR ONE: "Air One, I need more squads out here. I sure-we sure could use their help; and Air One to the squad southbound-- southbound on, uh, 1-3 Left: Stop right now. Stop."
3:22 p.m.
AIR ONE: "Air One, he's crossing runway through. Come on this way. Come on-it's okay. We got you."
AIR ONE: "Okay, Air One to those squads: Cross the runway. We got clearance out here. Let's stay on this guy."
AIR ONE: "Okay, Air One. Uh. He's now northbound on the Taxiway."
DISPATCHER: "Northbound on the Taxiway."
MALE OFFICER: "Bravo 660. Can anyone from Love Field get on the radio with us? Love Field officers?"
DISPATCHER: "Let me check."
OFFICER: "They're on a different radio system."
OFFICER: "Yeah, we've got, uh.. a Southwest Airlines on the tarmac, so everybody be careful of it."
AIR ONE: "Okay, Air One, there's two air crafts that are waiting to take off… um… at the end of this runway. So, don't let him hit those aircraft."
OFFICER: "This would be a good place for a pit, or anything."
3:23 p.m.
AIR ONE: "Air One, I need the command's decision. Are they authorized deadly force if he tries to ram an aircraft?"
COMMAND: "Bravo 660. We will if he tries to get near that Southwest Airlines."
AIR ONE: "Okay."
AIR ONE: "[Unintelligible] on the other side that are waiting to take off. We have a total of four aircraft awaiting takeoff at the end of this runway."
AIR ONE: "Air One. He's continuing northbound towards the aircraft that are tax... that are stopped."
OFFICER: "Bravo 663. He's heading towards two small aircraft right now."
AIR ONE: "Air One. We gotta get him stopped. Stop that-stop that vehicle."
COMMAND: "Authorized a pit to stop him."
AIR ONE: "Air One, he's [unintelligible] Southbound. He's right on the runway now."
OFFICER: "[Unintelligible] to, uh, 8-0-2 Perry. 20 to 8-0-2."
3:24 p.m.
AIR ONE: "[Unintelligible] one. Vehicle is coming to a stop."
COMMAND: "Authorized, um… shooting him. Don't let him get the aircraft."
OFFICER 1: "Perry 8-20 to 8-0-2."
OFFICER 2: "Go ahead."
OFFICER 1: "Code 6 at this location. Be advised. Standby."
AIR ONE: "Air One, they're taking the suspect into custody."
DISPATCH: "10-4 Air One. Taking him into custody at 3:24."
