A Dallas man is behind bars, suspected of several crimes in connection to domestic violence, a police pursuit and a standoff with SWAT officers while he holed up inside a stranger's apartment Tuesday.
Davarious Cooper, 20, surrendered to officers who surrounded a DeSoto apartment building where he was hiding.
A pregnant woman called 911 around 1 p.m. Tuesday to report that Cooper, who was the subject of a prior domestic violence complaint, had returned to the scene of the crime, an apartment complex along Delafield Lane, near Military Parkway in Pleasant Grove, according to Dallas police.
When officers arrived to investigate, they said they witnessed Cooper driving away from the scene in the alleged victim's sport utility vehicle, according to Cpl. Demarquis Black, with the Dallas Police Department.
The investigating officers, who were in unmarked patrol cars, followed Cooper as he proceeded south toward DeSoto, Black said.
It is not yet clear when Cooper became aware police were pursuing him, but he did swerve off South Hampton Road into a field before righting the vehicle and coming to a stop in an apartment complex parking lot in the 200 block of South Hampton, Black said.
Charles Goodwin, a nearby resident, explained what he saw happen next.
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"I looked out my window and I saw him come flying through here, like, he almost hit my Jeep and then he stopped, he jumped out, ran over and jumped that fence like he was in the Olympics," Goodwin said.
Once Cooper hopped the fence, he ran around to the front of the apartments where, using a pair of scissors he was carrying with him, according to one witness, he forced his way into the home of the apartment complex manager, a woman who was a total stranger to him, police said.
Cooper then threatened the woman to stay quiet before ultimately allowing her to leave while he hid out inside, the witness said.
The apartment manager tracked down police officers who, by now, were scouring the complex looking for Cooper, police said in a written statement issued late Tuesday night.
Cell phone video provided to NBC 5 by a neighbor in the apartment complex shows police taking cover behind squad cars with guns pointed toward the apartment where Cooper was reportedly hiding. The same video also shows what appear to be snipers taking positions on the roof of an adjoining apartment building.
After speaking with SWAT negotiators, Cooper came out of the apartment and surrendered, according to Black.
As of Tuesday night, Cooper remained in the Dallas County jail, facing charges of probation violation and felony robbery. He is being held on $101,000 bond.
