Police have arrested a Kansas man charged with two counts of murder who crashed into an automotive store in Hutto during a police chase shortly before 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Taylor police said.
The suspect, Keith Lane Hawkins, has minor injuries, and no officers were injured, police said. Hawkins is charged with murder in connection with the deaths of a 4-year-old girl and her mother in Newton, Kansas.
Officials told Taylor police on Tuesday that Hawkins might be headed toward Taylor, said Cmdr. Joseph Branson of the Taylor Police Department. Taylor police spotted the vehicle and tried to stop Hawkins, but he drove away, leading police on a chase down U.S. 79 to Hutto, Branson said. Hawkins crashed into the Christian Brothers Automotive car repair shop on U.S. 79 in Hutto, Branson said.
Branson said he didn’t know whether Hawkins had relatives in the area.
Witness Robyn James said she was running errands in Hutto with her mother when she heard sirens and saw police rushing by on U.S. 79. She said she pulled into a Taco Bell next to the Christian Brothers Automotive Store and saw 15 to 20 police officers arriving in the Christian Brothers parking lot.
“There was a Christian Brothers van that had been smashed on the driver’s side and was along U.S. 79,” she said. “A little black car had hit a red car and pushed it into the lobby part of the Christian Brothers building. I thought somebody had to have died.”
Two of the tires of the black car were off and the airbags were deployed, she said.
This story, by Claire Osborn and Katie Hall, first appeared on statesman.com Photo courtesy of Robyn James.
