Tanker Truck Driver Arrested After Leading Police On Chase From Owasso To Downtown Tulsa

NewsOn6.com

TULSA, Oklahoma -- A tanker truck was stopped outside Tulsa City Hall following a police chase than began in Owasso at about 12:45 Saturday afternoon.

Sergeant Mike Barnes of the Owasso Police Department said the suspect, Rocky Nail, 47, of Broken Arrow, ran a red light in Owasso and refused to pull over for police.

The chase went down U.S. Highway 169 and then onto the Broken Arrow Expressway westbound. Police say Nail made it all the way to downtown Tulsa where troopers managed to shoot out the tires, slowing the tanker.

Tulsa resident Matt Moore followed the tanker after spotting the police chase at 86th Street North on southbound Highway 169.

"We saw the truck go by with an Owasso police car following it then five more joined in," he said.

Moore followed the truck to 46th Street North where he saw the driver pull off the highway, drive through a ditch and onto the access road. The driver ran a roadblock at 36th Street North, went back through the ditch and got back on the Highway 169, Moore said.

"We were in front of him trying to slow him down, but he ended up going around us," Moore said.

The truck sideswiped several cars before coming to a rest near Mayfest and the Blue Dome Art festival in Tulsa.

"I heard fire, they were shooting at his tires, trying to shoot the tires out," said William Hurt, who witnessed the last leg of the chase.

With hundreds of people around for downtown festivals, officers feared the worst.

"He ran into two cars, that's the only way he stopped coming down a one-way street," Hurt said. "That man has got be a maniac."

Cars parked along Cincinnati took a beating from the tanker truck.

"Just a lot of sadness. I hadn't had that car but six months or so," said Ben McCracken, Car Owner.

McCracken's car was crumpled from the back end when the tanker slammed into it.

"Immediately thought, 'man that's where I was at, right at the corner, that's probably me.' So I flew out the door, looked out the window and saw the disastrous mess with my car crunched underneath the truck," McCracken said.

Authorities say during the pursuit, Nail swerved at several police officers and troopers who were attempting to deploy stop sticks.

Nail was transported to a local hospital. No other person was injured during the chase.

News On 6 tried to contact Eagle Fuels, L.L.C. of Sapulpa but so far has gotten no answer.