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Toddler critically injured in rollover crash during chase on East Freeway, police say

Police said the father was on the run after he was accused of running over the mother of the toddler in Louisiana.

HOUSTON — A toddler was critically injured after a chase with a suspected drunk driver resulted in a rollover crash on East Freeway early Friday, according to the Houston Police Department.

This happened at 1:30 a.m. in the westbound lanes of I-10 near the Eastex Freeway. That section of I-10 was shut down but has reopened.

Houston police said the driver, Bryon H. White, 43, had his 2-year-old child in the car at the time of the crash. The toddler was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital and is said to be doing better after being seriously injured.

The father and child had to be pulled from the wreckage. Police said the father appeared to be intoxicated. 

What happened

According to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana, White was on the run from the Lake Charles area following a domestic dispute Thursday night.

The sheriff's office said their deputies responded to a call at 11 p.m. at a home in Moss Bluff. When they arrived, they found a woman in the roadway.

Deputies said she had been involved in a domestic dispute with White. but was able to get away to a neighbor's house.

However, she then saw White leaving the home with their toddler. Deputies said when she tried to stop him, he hit her with his Jeep, including running over her leg.

Deputies tracked down White in his Jeep as he was driving on I-210, but he refused to stop, leading them on a chase. Once White made it across the state line into Texas, they called off their chase out of fear for the child's safety.

A short time later, deputies spotted White again. This time he was heading back into Louisiana on I-10.

Deputies tried to pull him over, but he again refused and made a U-turn, heading west on I-10 back into Texas, deputies said.

They called off the chase once again, but various law enforcement agencies in Texas started chasing White as he continued west on I-10, deputies said.

Houston police said White eventually ran out of gas and was involved in a rollover crash after hitting another vehicle. 

White was also taken to a hospital and is being held on a warrant stemming from the domestic incident and chase in Louisiana. The sheriff's office there said he faces charges of domestic abuse battery, intentional use of force with a deadly weapon serious bodily injury, and aggravated flight from an officer.

White also faces charges from other Texas agencies involved in the chase.

The mother of the child who was hit with the Jeep was taken to a hospital in Louisiana, the sheriff's office said. Her condition was not released.

The second car involved was damaged, but the driver is OK. 

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