A 19-year-old man with a reported history of evading officers was arrested early Wednesday on charges of driving a stolen mini-van and colliding into a fire hydrant.
The suspect, Joshua Tavarez, fled from the wreckage but was later caught hiding in a dumpster in the 1400 block of East Fourth Street. Tavarez was arrested on suspicion of the unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, a state jail felony, and evading arrest with a prior conviction, another state jail felony.
Tavarez was also arrested on a charge of possessing marijuana and leaving the scene of an accident, both misdemeanors. Tavarez, 2806 Henderson Ave., was being held Wednesday at the Ector County Detention Center on bonds totaling $60,000.
Odessa police initially received a 2:32 a.m. dispatch about shots fired and were sent to the area of Applewood Drive and Brittany Lane. A witness told officers the driver of a silver mini-van opened fire out of the driver’s window and saw muzzle flash, the Odessa Police Department reported.
Officers patrolling the area of Eighth Street and Highway 80 spotted a 2003 Dodge Caravan that matched the description given and was traveling more than 70 mph on westbound Highway 80 before it collided into a fire hydrant at the corner of Second Street and Hillcrest Avenue.
Two suspects, one of them identified as Tavarez, jumped out of the Caravan and ran northbound on Hillcrest Avenue. Officers caught up with Tavarez hiding in the dumpster but the second suspect managed to evade capture and no one was arrested in connection with the shooting, the OPD reported.
Officers learned that Tavarez “had multiple convictions for evading,” the OPD said. “Further investigation revealed that the listed vehicle had been stolen from the 1300 block of South Sam Houston.”
