Mesa police rescue child, suspect arrested after high-speed chase after he assaulted two people
By: -----
Mesa, AZ - Newly released footage shows the moment police ended a chase and pulled a young child from a fleeing car in Mesa last Sunday night.
The chase began just after 10 p.m. when officers responded to Ellsworth and Ray roads after a man reportedly assaulted and threatened his girlfriend and two strangers, according to police documents.
The man, later identified as Denzel Franklin, reportedly broke his girlfriend’s phone, shoved a stranger and tried to run over another who tried to intervene before speeding off with a 6-year-old child inside his car.
When officers tried to stop Franklin, he reportedly sped away at more than 90 mph, so police ended the ground pursuit and sent their helicopter to track him.
A video shared by Mesa Police showed Franklin stop at a gas station near Broadway Road and the Loop 202, where officers again tried to arrest him. As he was headed to the freeway off-ramp, officers used a grappler to stop his car.
The video shows officers yelling at Franklin to “get on the ground, or you’re going to get bit,” before firing less-lethal rounds, sending a police dog and placing him in handcuffs.
Body camera footage shows an officer running up to the car, grabbing the child from the back seat and reassuring him: “Come on over buddy. You’re alright. You’re alright.”
Police safely returned the child to his mother.
Franklin reportedly told officers he had taken a shot of liquor, smoked marijuana and took percocet before the chase.
He was taken to a hospital and later booked into jail on multiple charges, including aggravated assault, child endangerment, aggravated DUI and unlawful flight. His bond was set at $100,000.