Estimated reading time: 6 minutes
A Houston police pursuit in 2022 could’ve ended with officers trapped inside a burning patrol car.
Instead, it turned into one of those stories that sounds more like a movie scene than real life: a Tesla slamming into police, a violent crash, suspects bailing on foot, a patrol unit erupting into flames, ammo cooking off in the cabin, and officers still chasing suspects while their rifles melted inside the inferno.
And now, for the first time, one of the officers involved is telling the full story exclusively to GunsAmerica.
Houston Police Department Officer Vincent Li says the incident started during a proactive operation targeting a known crime hotspot on Houston’s west side. Li was assigned to the department’s tactical unit, working alongside undercover officers monitoring a gas station reportedly linked to drug trafficking and stolen vehicles.
Then they spotted a white Tesla Model X.
According to Li, undercover officers observed one of the occupants allegedly carrying a handgun stuffed into his waistband before getting behind the wheel. Once probable cause for a traffic stop developed, Li and his partner moved in.
That’s when everything went sideways.
“The reverse lights flicked on the Tesla and they accelerated in reverse to ram us,” Li told GunsAmerica.
Luckily, the patrol unit had a PIT bumper installed, absorbing most of the impact. The Tesla then jumped a curb, blasted across a parking lot, and the chase was on. Li handled radio traffic while his partner drove, as HPD’s airborne unit FOX tracked the fleeing suspects from above.
Then came the crash.
Westside patrol, TAC and FOX have three suspects in custody 12900 Ashford Point. Armed suspect led officers on a pursuit intentionally striking a patrol car that latter caught on fire. Two suspects were caught by patrol officers. 202 pic.twitter.com/VnM3MvrK8C
— Houston Police (@houstonpolice) August 4, 2022
The Tesla reportedly exited into a neighborhood and attempted a sharp 90-degree turn at high speed before clipping a retaining wall and spinning out. The suspects bailed and FOX directed officers toward the fleeing driver.
But Li says their own cruiser suddenly stopped responding during the pursuit.
“I watched my partner crank the steering wheel to the right, but our patrol car just kept going straight,” he said.
The unit slammed into the wall at roughly 30 to 40 MPH.
Li says the impact nearly launched him through the windshield before the seatbelt snapped him back hard enough that he initially thought he’d broken his shoulder.
And somehow, the pursuit still wasn’t over.
His partner jumped out and continued chasing suspects on foot while Li cleared the crashed Tesla to make sure nobody remained inside. Officers eventually captured the passengers while the driver fled deeper into the neighborhood.
Then came the moment Li says he’ll never forget.
As they walked back toward the crash scene with suspects in custody, he smelled burning plastic. The patrol unit was fully engulfed.
“My work phone, personal phone, and rifle were all still inside the now flaming passenger compartment,” Li said.
Inside the burning cruiser were two personally-owned rifles locked into the rack system: Li’s SIG Sauer MCX and his partner’s patrol rifle. Both were destroyed in the blaze.
In one of the more human moments from the entire ordeal, Li admitted his first thought wasn’t about paperwork or headlines.
It was about breaking the news to his partner’s regular riding buddy, who was on vacation at the time.
“John just sent us a picture while he was on vacation of him relaxing at the beach with a beer,” Li recalled, “and now I had no way to break the bad news to him that his patrol car was turning into a crisp.”
Meanwhile, the suspect situation was still active.
According to Li, the fleeing driver crossed a drainage bayou and allegedly forced his way into an elderly woman’s home while trying to hide from officers. A nearby maintenance worker saw it happen and alerted responding officers, who entered the residence and took the suspect into custody before the homeowner could be harmed.
Police later recovered multiple fraudulent IDs and a loaded Glock handgun equipped with a drum magazine from inside the Tesla, according to Li.
Back at the crash scene, the patrol vehicle continued burning while airbags exploded and ammunition cooked off inside the cabin. Firefighters eventually extinguished the blaze, but Li says almost nothing remained except the rear hatch and tail lights.
There’s also a pretty solid ending to the story.
After Li’s personally-owned SIG Sauer MCX Virtus was destroyed in the patrol car fire, one of his longtime friends and former teammates stepped in to help. Jimmy, who previously served alongside Li on a Coast Guard interdiction team during a counter-piracy deployment to the Horn of Africa and now works for SIG Sauer, helped get him back up and running with a replacement setup.
That replacement ended up being a new SIG Sauer MCX LT equipped with a SIG Sauer ROMEO8T AMR.
For Jimmy, the gesture was about more than just replacing a rifle. It was about taking care of a guy who stayed in the fight when things could have gone very differently.
As he put it: “Vince is a solid guy with a great story, especially the part where he still got his man.”
Good stuff!
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is a seasoned outdoorsman, lifelong hunter, and the kind of guy who’d rather track whitetails than scroll social media. As an editor for GunsAmerica, he’s got a sharp eye for spotting both solid gear and bad gun laws. Whether he’s deep in the woods or deep in editorial deadlines, Larry brings a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is approach to firearms, hunting, and the great American tradition of self-reliance. If there’s a hot debate on gun rights or the latest in hunting tech, you can bet Larry’s got an opinion—and it’s probably backed up with both facts and field experience.
Experience:
– Licensed Bowhunter, Hunter, and Trapper – Experienced in ethical hunting and wildlife conservation.
– Concealed Carry Permit Holder (NYS & AZ) – Trained and licensed to carry in multiple states.
– 2A Journalist – Covering firearms legislation, Second Amendment issues, and gun rights for over a decade.
– Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) – Certified to provide emergency medical care in the field.
– Field-Tested Gear Reviewer – Hands-on experience with firearms, optics, and hunting tech.
