UPDATED: Shots Fired During Police Chase; Suspect in Custody
By: Nick Ochsner
Updated: February 27, 2013
A man is still on the loose after shooting at Slaton Police during a car chase Tuesday night.
Slaton PD Chief Steve Wheeler said the chase started in town just before 8:00 p.m. Tuesday when a patrol sergeant tried to pull the card over for a traffic violation.
Wheeler said the car failed to stop and led police on a chase down Woodrow Road before crashing in a field between Highway 87 and University Avenue.
During the chase, Wheeler said the passenger in the car--identified as 30-year-old Roberto Rivera--pulled out a .9 mm pistol and shot at police. No officers were hit.
Rivera jumped out of the car when it crashed in an empty field and ran from police, prompting an hours-long manhunt.
Slaton police officers, Lubbock County sheriff's deputies and DPS troopers fanned out over the area searching for the gunman. Officers with K-9s assisted and a DPS helicopter flew overhead.
Rivera was arrested at a house in Lubbock early Wednesday morning. He faces charges including evading arrest and felon in possession of a handgun, Wheeler said.
The driver of the car, Shelly Blair, was taken into custody after the crash. Wheeler said she faces multiple charges, including evading arrest.


