Published: June 26, 2009 09:14 am      

Deadly end after area kidnapping

An apparent kidnapping of a Stratford woman by her former husband turned deadly for the man as he committed suicide after a standoff with authorities Tuesday night.

No names have yet been released as Garvin County’s new sheriff, Steve Brooks, said Wednesday the woman, who had recently moved to Stratford, was forcibly taken by the man believed to have been staying in nearby Johnston County at the time.

The woman escaped when the vehicle driven by her ex-husband was stopped by a county deputy south of Stratford.

The man then led a high-speed pursuit that ended with a standoff and later his own death from a self-inflicted gunshot from a .22 caliber revolver.

“There was no doubt in her mind that he was going to kill her,” Brooks said about the woman.

“The action of the deputy definitely saved her life. His focus on the deputy allowed the woman to get out of the vehicle,” he said.

For the sheriff’s office the incident began when dispatchers were contacted at about 8:30 p.m. Tuesday by a woman claiming to have been kidnapped by her former husband.

Calling from a cell phone, the woman told dispatchers she was in a vehicle traveling somewhere south of Stratford on a dirt road.

One of the county deputies, Karey Poteet, converging on the area stopped the truck as it turned off Oakdale Road onto U.S. Highway 177.

“A white female jumped out of the vehicle and runs toward the deputy,” Brooks said.

The panicked woman confirmed who she was when asked by Poteet if she was the caller.

“Yes and he has a gun and he is going to kill me,” the woman is reported to have said.

As Poteet got the woman down by the vehicle she reported seeing the man fumbling around inside before a weapon was first seen.

“He stuck a gun out the window, pointed it at the deputy and brought it back in and placed it under his chin. He then took off at a high rate of speed,” Brooks said.

As the vehicle pulled away the deputy said the man claimed “you will not take me alive.”

The vehicle was traveling southbound when moments later it was passed by another Garvin County deputy — Karey’s husband, Jeff Poteet.

A pursuit then wound up back on the dirt of Oakdale Road as speeds are believed to have reached around 70 mph.

The chase would soon end as a bridge was out of commission on the road. It was there the man stopped the vehicle, jumped out and the standoff began.

“He still has the gun pointed at his chin while he’s telling deputies to stay back,” Brooks said.

An estimated eight law enforcement officers then began the process of trying to convince the man to surrender as they remained about 35 to 40 feet away from the man.

“They tried to talk to him, negotiate with him. They tried to establish a calm communication.”

Brooks said the man never took the revolver from under his chin as the scene remained unchanged for about 1 1/2 hours. During that time the sheriff said he made a number of comments to the nearby officers.

“I will not put down my weapon. I’m going to finish drinking my beer, smoke a couple of cigarettes and end this one way or another,” the man is reported to have said.

“I’m not going back to prison. You’re not taking me anywhere.”

The sheriff said the man then followed through with his promise after drinking two or three beers and smoking some cigarettes.

“Once he was done with his beer he was ready,” Brooks said.

“He smoked another cigarette, flicked it down, turned toward the deputy’s unit, positioned himself and pulled the trigger,” he said.

An ambulance on stand-by status and located nearby was then called up to the scene.

Brooks said his office can’t release the man’s name until his family is officially notified.

Deputies are also working to get more information on the man since he also carried a Texas driver’s license and had a New Mexico tag on the truck he was driving.