Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Hood County Sheriff's Office
A 37-year-old man sought by law enforcement officers after evading deputies in a high-speed vehicle pursuit Tuesday was arrested early Thursday evening — hiding in an unplugged freezer.
That’s according to Hood County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Johnny Rose, who told the HCN by email that Nicholas Brandon Riggs was taken into custody at about 7:30 p.m. on June 16. Officers from multiple agencies responded to the 800 block of Jupiter Avenue in the Sky Harbour subdivision north of Granbury, acting on a Crime Stoppers tip.
“Officers searched the property and located Riggs hiding in an unplugged freezer behind (a) house trailer on Jupiter,” Rose stated in the news release. “Riggs was taken into custody and had to be treated by paramedics for heat exhaustion at the scene.”
Along with Hood County Sheriff’s Office deputies, other agencies that responded to the Jupiter Avenue site were the Hood County Street Crimes Unit, Granbury Police Department, Somervell County Sheriff’s Office, and U.S. marshals — “all part of the Region 8 Special Operations Group SWAT Team,” Rose noted.
In a follow-up email, Rose addressed an issue that was brought up in the form of questions asking about gunshots someone claimed to have heard near the residence where Riggs was apprehended, noting that the sound came from “flashbangs,” also known as “stun grenades.”
Rose’s email states: “No officer on scene or nearby fired a firearm at a structure or at a person. The sounds the neighbors heard were “diversionary devises or stun grenades.” These items are used to disorient or confuse the suspect and give officers valuable time to find and arrest the suspect without getting hurt.”
Rose said Riggs was transported to the Hood County Jail and will face “multiple charges for running from deputies.”
Riggs was wanted on a second-degree felony warrant (burglary of a habitation, dated May 26) when he was spotted by deputies on Tuesday afternoon driving a pickup near the intersection of Fall Creek Highway and Acton Highway. Riggs eluded two Sheriff’s Office vehicles after pulling into the Acton Sonic Drive-in, before the high-speed vehicle chase that covered approximately “six or seven miles,” Rose said. The vehicle pursuit ended in the 8700 block of Massey Road, south of Granbury, after Riggs “drove through multiple gates and fences.” Riggs, who lists Fort Worth as his city of residence, abandoned the pickup in that area and fled on foot.
