Two Florida men have been arrested after a Pearland police pursuit in which more than $6,000 in cash was thrown from a vehicle, authorities said.
The incident began at about 6pm on Wednesday, September 16, when officers were called to a bank in the 9900 block of Broadway Street following reports of a masked man making multiple ATM transactions with several cards and withdrawing large amounts of cash.
The suspect was seen getting into the passenger seat of a white GMC Sierra. Pearland’s Drone First Responder system and an officer from the department’s Crime Reduction Unit later located the vehicle in a business car park on Smith Ranch Road.
When the passenger left the truck and began walking away, he was detained by the officer. Police said the driver then drove off, refusing attempts by patrol and crime-reduction officers to stop him.
The GMC travelled north along Smith Ranch Road before turning east on McHard Road and then north into the 1600 block of Max Road. During the pursuit, the driver allegedly threw large amounts of cash from the vehicle, footage from a police dash camera showed.
The truck eventually stopped and officers carried out a high-risk traffic stop. The driver was arrested without further incident, while officers recovered more than $6,000 believed to have been thrown from the vehicle.
The passenger was identified as Tarvares Givens, from Florida. He was charged with failure to identify.
The driver, Levon Steven Jr, also from Florida, was charged with evading arrest and tampering with evidence.
Pearland police said both men were being held at Brazoria County Jail following their arrests. Detectives are continuing to investigate the suspected ATM activity and are considering additional fraud-related charges.
