DALLAS — A low-speed chase from Garland to Dallas ended in a 7-Eleven parking lot Tuesday after the suspect – who had a machete strapped to his side and claimed he was God – went inside the store, and officers waited for him to walk out, police said.
Stoffon Lorains Cooper, 47, was taken into custody and no one was injured.
The chase started about 3 p.m. in the area of South Garland Road and Avenue B, where a police officer pulled over a minivan for speeding in a school zone.
Cooper, the driver, stopped in the middle of the street, got out of the van and started yelling at the officer, according to a police news release. Cooper then went back to the van and drove to a parking lot.
When the officer began talking to him, Cooper claimed he was "God," according to the news release. The officer, who was concerned for Cooper's mental health, tried to arrest him on traffic warrants, but Cooper drove away, leading officers on a low-speed chase, police said.
Officers eventually ended the pursuit, but a Texas Department of Public Safety helicopter kept following Cooper to a 7-Eleven at Abrams Road and Northwest Highway in northeast Dallas, where he went inside the store.
When he walked out of the store, officers rushed toward him and took him into custody. Police found a "large machete style knife" strapped to his side, the news release said.
Cooper was taken to the Garland jail on charges of evading arrest and the traffic warrants.