You don't see the chief of police chasing down criminals every day.
But Grand Prairie Chief Steve Dye found himself pursuing a robbery suspect on his way back from lunch after hearing about the robbery on his police radio.
"We were listening to the police radio when they put out a broadcast that there was an aggravated robbery on north 360," Dye said.
He said two men drove up to a woman at a 7-Eleven gas station near Highway 360 and Green Oaks Boulevard. One man put a gun to her head and the other stole her purse.
"Our officers got to the scene very quickly and were able to give out additional information on the suspects and the suspect vehicle," Dye said.
Dye realized he had the suspects' vehicle in view and pursued it.
"I was able to stop the vehicle on traffic a short distance later and, through subsequent investigation, we were able to confirm that they had just robbed our victim at the 7-Eleven and that was our robbery suspect," Dye said.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
The other man got away.
Grand Prairie Mayor Charles England said he commended Dye's efforts.
"The fact that he's brave enough and tough enough and energetic enough to make an arrest like that, that speaks very highly of him," he said.
Dye said he was just doing his job.
"I'm the chief, and I have a different job to do, but I'm still a police officer," he said. "First and foremost, that's always my duty is to be a police officer, and if I'm in a position where I can help, you know, protect the community, then I'm glad to be able to do it and glad I was able to be there and help."
Police said they believe the two men were involved in several other robberies in Grand Prairie and Arlington.
