Amarillo Man Spots His Stolen Vehicle And Decides To Take The Law Into His Own Hands

An Amarillo man had his vehicle stolen, saw it while out driving, and decided to take the law into his own hands.  A GMC truck was left running in the driveway of a home on the 1900 block of S. Seminole, while the owner was inside the house, someone noticed the running vehicle and decided it was easy pickings.  That's just the beginning, the incidents that followed ended in a 3 vehicle accident.  A car chase took place, but not by the police, by the victim that had his vehicle stolen.

The owner/victim saw his stolen truck near I-40 & Grand, instead of immediately contacting the police, he followed his stolen pick-up truck.  At some point after he began to chase his stolen vehicle, he began to ram the rear and driver's side with the truck he was currently driving.  Ironically, it was also a GMC truck.

After a few good hits, he caused the driver of the stolen vehicle to lose control and swerve into a fence, followed by 2 parked cars in a parking lot at 9th & S. Ross.

It's not over yet, at least that's what the driver of the stolen truck was thinking.  He got back onto Ross in an attempt to get away, and the victim followed in the truck he was driving.  Neither of them made it far, as an uninvolved Ford van that was traveling north on Ross met both of them in a collision.

This story ends with the victim, who had his pick-up truck stolen from his driveway, arrested for aggravated assault.

Amarillo Police

"The driver of the van was not injured in the collision.  Responding officers initially took a man that was in the stolen pickup into custody.  He was released pending investigation when officers found evidence that indicates that another person had initially stolen the vehicle but fled after the collision.  Officers determined that the stolen auto complainant/driver was intentionally ramming his pickup with intent to assault the auto theft suspect.  The vehicle owner, Steven Don Craven WM 36, was booked into the Potter County Detention Center on a charge of aggravated assault.  Auto theft detectives are continuing the investigation into the original offense."

I understand the victim was mad and probably just reacted out of anger.  I'm sure it all happened in a split second and totally get why he followed the vehicle, not so much why he began to ram his own vehicle.  I think we have a lesson to be learned here!  Don't try taking the law into your own hands...