A teen suspect was arrested Thursday in connection with a shooting incident that left a Dallas police officer injured last week.
D’Adrian Starling, 17, was charged with evading arrest after the driver of the vehicle he was in — a stolen blue Chevy Camaro — allegedly fired off five rounds at an unmarked patrol car that had been following it on March 14 shortly before 1 a.m. in the 3200 block of Easter Avenue.
The Dallas Police Department has since released video footage of the shooting.
As covered by The Dallas Express, one of the officers was hit in the hip by a bullet that penetrated the driver’s door.
“His spirit, his attitude is something remarkable,” Police Chief Eddie Garcia said of the four-year veteran, according to NBC 5 DFW.
After firing on the police vehicle, the driver of the Camaro then led police on a 10-minute pursuit before stopping in front of an apartment complex in the 7200 block of Chesterfield Drive. He can be seen in the video exiting with what resembles a gun in his hand.
Ultimately, Dallas police apprehended the driver, who was identified as 17-year-old Jaheart Nickleberry, a known gang affiliate. He was charged with aggravated assault and evading arrest. Yet more charges may be pending as he was reportedly connected to an aggravated robbery a few hours earlier in the 3500 block of Cripple Creek, as well as a home invasion in Glenn Heights.
In total, five teen suspects were taken in that early morning; however, a sixth suspect — now identified as Starling — managed to evade capture. A 15-year-old girl was allegedly caught attempting to flee the scene and now faces evading arrest charges. Three other teens remained inside the Camaro and were not charged with a crime.
The shooting incident occurred in Council Member Carolyn King Arnold’s District 4, and the suspect vehicle was intercepted in Council Member Tennell Atkins’ District 8. The two districts had logged a combined total of 1,002 assaults and 395 stolen vehicles this year as of March 21, according to data from the City’s crime analytics dashboard.
The Dallas Police Department has been laboring under a significant officer shortage, which has impacted response times and contributed to rising crime rates in certain parts of the city, such as Downtown Dallas. It fields roughly 3,000 officers, which is considerably fewer than some 4,000 officers recommended by a City analysis.
Compared to Fort Worth’s city center, Downtown Dallas saw eight times more crime in February, according to a comparative analysis from the Metroplex Civic & Business Association. Fort Worth patrols its city center with a specialized police unit and private security guards.
Moreover, City leaders opted to budget DPD just $654 million this fiscal year, which is demonstrably less than the spending in other high-crime jurisdictions, such as New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago.
