Texas: Witnesses see police chief intentionally hit by truck

It happened at Shady Grove Mobile Home Park in the 14000 block of FM 968 southwest of Longview on Tuesday.

Lakeport Police Chief Wesley Freeman was attempting a traffic stop in the Lakeport area when the driver wouldn’t stop.

Chief Freeman was lying on FM 968 while several officers tended to him while waiting on an ambulance when our crew arrived on the scene. He had just been hit by a truck.

Back in 2008, after a chase, Freeman had words that sounded prophetic.

“Is he going to throw it back in gear and take off?” Chief Freeman said.

Longview, Gregg County, Hallsville, Harrison County and DPS all responded to the call of an officer down that came over police scanners, and they were all looking for a suspect in a pickup.

Freeman chased the vehicle down Highway 149 to I-20 and into Harrison County on FM 968. According to witnesses, the vehicle pulled over, but when Freeman was trying to get the driver’s information she put her truck in gear and hit Freeman.

Aaron Dobbins and Milton Rodgers live at Shady Grove and saw the whole thing.

“All over two traffic tickets, man. That’s crazy. It’s hard to think on something like that, man; all over two ticket you’re going to get an assault on a police officer now,” Dobbins said.

Rodgers was a little farther away but probably saw what happened more clearly since he was looking through his binoculars.

“He got her information and everything, he got into his vehicle. He started walking back and she put it in gear and she floored it,” Rodgers said, “Both his feet came up off the ground and he flipped. I mean it was a horrible mess the way it happened to him,” Rodgers explained.

And she left the scene in a hurry.

“You know going to jail is bad but this is a lot worse. This is somebody’s life that’s at risk now. It’s horrible,” Rodgers stated.

Officers also left the scene in a hurry when the suspect was spotted in Harrison County.

“Our law enforcement officers out here trying to take care of us, trying to protect us and serve us, and then you do something like that. It’s horrific,” Rodgers added.

The Gregg County Sheriff’s Department tells us Freeman suffered a head injury and was taken to the hospital.

The woman who hit the officer was apprehended a short time later on I-20. Several officers boxed her in and she was arrested and taken to the Harrison County Jail.

The truck was driven by Felesia Meshaun Ford, 40, of Longview, says the Gregg County Sheriff's Office.