Documents: Men involved in high-speed chase facing drug charges

The men allegedly involved in a high-speed chase involving state troopers on I-10 are identified in court documents as 26-year-old Damian Arce and 27-year-old Jeremy Horn.

State Police troopers took the two men into custody following a pursuit that began in East-Central and ended in El Paso’s Lower Valley on Friday, February 1, 2019.

Police charged Arce with Aggravated Assault on a Law Enforcement Officer, Evading Arrest or Detention with a Mother Vehicle, Tampering With Physical Evidence With Intent to Impair an Investigation, Manufacturing and Delivery of a Controlled Substance, Criminal Trespass and Possession of Marijuana. Horn is charged with Evading Arrest or Detention, Manufacturing and Delivery of a Controlled Substance, Criminal Trespass and Possession of Marijuana.

Marc Couch, with the Texas Department of Public Safety, told ABC-7 state troopers got involved just before 2 p.m. when El Paso Police alerted them of suspicious activity in Central El Paso. “The reported vehicle’s occupants were involved in illegal activity observed by undercover agents with the El Paso Police Department,” said Couch.

DPS used aircraft to track the suspects, inside a heavy-duty Ford pickup, in the I-10 and Dyer area. The vehicle then traveled east on I-10. Couch said state troopers began to pursue the pickup near I-10 and Airway. The driver of the pickup, identified in a criminal complaint as Arce, allegedly crashed into several vehicles after he exited the freeway and drove south on Yarbrough.

Police said Arce led troopers on a chase into the area of Myra and La Jolla in a Lower Valley neighborhood. When Arce reached the property at 589 Myra, he drove onto the driveway, where both Arce and Horn attempted to run away. As a state trooper pulled into the driveway, the men re-entered the pick up and Arce allegedly backed the pickup into the trooper’s patrol unit, the criminal complaint states.

Police said Arce once again drove the pickup onto Myra Street and eventually drove south into a dead end, where he crashed into a guardrail. Police said the men exited the pickup, ran away and dropped a small baggie containing cocaine.

The men allegedly ran through several backyards and Arce trespassed into a home on the 400 block of Gallagher, police said. “Damian Arce had a fanny pack on him. He was throwing money out and throwing evidence (drug baggies) all over the backyard when he was arrested,” the criminal complaint states.

Police said a small amount of marijuana was found in the backyard next to the fanny pack Arce discarded. Investigators also found a hand gun magazine with eleven 40 caliber rounds and 63 small drug baggies, the document states. “The white baggie found containing cocaine had an aggregate weight of 6.2 grams,” the criminal complaint states, adding “The amount of cocaine seized was inconsistent with personal use.” Police also recovered $396.