An Odessa police officer trying to pursue a male robbery suspect on foot was accidentally hit by another responding officer’s vehicle Thursday morning, an Odessa Police Department news release stated.
Cpl. Teddy Yelley was listed in fair condition late Thursday morning after being transported to Medical Center Hospital with serious bodily injury, OPD spokesman Cpl. Steve LeSueur said. The officer who accidentally hit Yelley was not identified.
Yelley was hit at 8:03 a.m. near the intersection of 40th Street and Golder Avenue near Burleson Elementary School, and with police still searching for the suspect, the school had a shelter in place.
The male suspect Yelley was pursuing was identified as 21-year-old Ian Jacob Collins, the release detailed.
OPD was still searching for Collins as of Thursday night. Collins was reportedly one of three suspects who robbed several people at gunpoint after kicking open the front door of their home at 4:30 a.m. Thursday in the 2700 block of Hancock Avenue.
Collins and two other males held the victims at gunpoint while demanding their cell phones, cash and 2018 Jeep Cherokee, the release stated.
“We are investigating everything now,” LeSueur said Thursday morning. “We have several officers on scene searching for the suspect at this time. More news will be released when it becomes available.”
At about 7:30 a.m. Thursday, OPD was responding to the area of 40th Street and Golder Avenue because the stolen vehicle that was taken at gunpoint was spotted, the release stated.
Officers then saw a male they believed to be the suspect, later identified as Collins, immediately exit the vehicle and leave the scene on foot.
LeSueur said OPD did recover the Jeep that was reported stolen.
Burleson Elementary School’s shelter in place was in effect for about 45 minutes, during which a helicopter also flew over the area searching for the suspect.
In addition to OPD, Ector County Sheriff’s Office, Ector County Independent School District Police and Texas Department of Public Safety were at the scene. The mobile crime scene unit also responded.
Andrea Mayorga, 25, was worried there was a shooting at Burleson Elementary School. Her little brother is graduating from the fifth grade Thursday afternoon.
“I just saw a cop haul butt into the school parking lot and that was my first fear,” Mayorga said. “When I saw they were across the street, I thought it might be a barricaded suspect. You don’t think it’s ever going to happen here, especially to you in your area. It was very scary.”
When the shelter in place was lifted, the school district announced the fifth-grade graduation had been rescheduled for later that afternoon.
Anyone with information to the whereabouts of Collins is asked to contact OPD or Odessa Crime Stoppers at 432-333-TIPS.
