EPPD: Driver tried to run over motorcycle officers, responsible for high-speed chase

A motorcycle officer on the freeway was assaulted by a speeding driver clocked on radar doing over 90 miles per hour, police said.

The officer was on traffic patrol Thursday morning at I-10 West near Artcraft “running radar as part of a motor-surge focused on the Westside.”

The driver, 31-year-old Zackery Avila of Las Cruces, intentionally Veered his car towards the officer on the freeway’s shoulder, police said.

A high-speed chase ensued with Avila allegedly trying to to crash into the pursing officers at various points, police added.

Officers lost sight of the driver after he drove into a neighborhood in Anthony, Texas.

As the officers on motorcycles were searching the area near Mountain Pass and Torres, Avila allegedly drove at one of them, forcing one of the officers to fire his weapon at Avila’s vehicle.

Police said the pursuit came to end after Avila drove into a gully.

Avila was not struck by the gunfire but did “sustain minor injuries while scuffling with officers during the arrest,” police said. He was taken to University Medical Center and later booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility.

Police charged Avila with two counts of Aggravated Assault On A Public Servant with bonds totaling $170,000.

The officer who fired the shots, a 14-year veteran of the police force, will be placed on administrative duties pending the outcome of the investigation.

Crimes Against Persons, the Shooting Review Team, and Texas Rangers are investigating the shooting.