Burglary Suspects Lead Deputies on Pursuit

On Friday, May 13, 2016 at 9:38pm deputies with the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office were in the area of Upper Mt. Vernon Road and N. Tekoppel Avenue following up on a residential burglary report. Information developed during the investigation of a recent burglary that occurred in Plantation Estates led deputies to believe the suspects might be in the area. Deputies located the suspects and attempted to speak to them, but they fled in a silver 2003 Ford Taurus.

Deputies pursued the vehicle south on Tekoppel Avenue and continued west on Broadway Avenue towards Posey County. At one point during the pursuit the driver and the passenger switched seats while the vehicle was still in motion. The pursuit ended when the suspect vehicle failed to negotiate the intersection at Strueh Hendricks Road and South Posey County Line Road. The vehicle entered an embankment and crashed. The driver, later identified as Mr. Roger Dale Douglas, exited the vehicle and fled into a wooded area.  An unconscious female, later identified as Ms. Deserae Nicole Gonzalez-Coomes, was located in the back seat of the vehicle.

Sheriff’s deputies and officers from the Evansville Police Department (EPD) set up a perimeter while an EPD K-9 team began a track of the driver. The K-9 located Mr. Douglas hiding in a wooded area, where he was apprehended.   Mr Douglas was taken into custody and transported to Deaconess Hospital for treatment of a dog bite.  Mr. Douglas was later released from the hospital and then booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail.   Ms. Gonzalez-Coomes was also treated at the hospital before being released and booked into the Vanderburgh County Jail.

The vehicle the suspects fled in was revealed to have been stolen out of Owensboro, Kentucky. Evidence recovered from inside the vehicle allowed the Sheriff’s Office to link both suspects to the earlier residential burglary.

ARRESTED:

Roger Dale Douglas (pictured above), 26, of Owensboro, Kentucky. Burglary of a Dwelling as a Level 4 Felony, Theft as a Level 6 Felony, Criminal Recklessness with a Motor Vehicle Resulting in Injury as a Level 6 Felony, Auto Theft as a Level 6 Felony, Resisting Law Enforcement as a Level 6 Felony, Leaving the Scene of an Injury Accident as a Level 6 Felony, Reckless Driving as a Class A Misdemeanor.

Deserae Nicole Gonzalez-Coomes (pictured above), 26, of Owensboro, Kentucky. Burglary of a Dwelling as a Level 4 Felony, Theft as a Level 6 Felony, Auto Theft as a Level 6 Felony, Resisting Law Enforcement as a Level 6 Felony, Reckless Driving as a Class A Misdemeanor.

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