Navajo Nation man leads police on three-county chase

A New Mexico man who allegedly tried to burn down a shop and boat just outside Olney then stole the car of a good samaritan who stopped to put out the fire was in Young County Jail, facing a long list of charges in New Mexico, Young and Baylor counties.

Olney police responded to a call about the carjacking on State Highway 114 and were drawn into a three-county chase that ended with a bomb threat and a SWAT team gassing the wrecked car and pulling the man out, Sgt. Dustin Hudson said.

Sgt. Hudson responded to the call about the carjacking at about 8 p.m. on April 11.

As he was taking the report from the victim, Archer County Sheriff ’s deputies reported seeing the stolen vehicle driving recklessly. He assisted Archer County law enforcement, chasing the suspect north into Baylor County.

The suspect drove the vehicle into a house in Seymour.

The suspect had a shotgun in his lap and a box of wires beside him, and threatened to shoot himself and detonate a bomb, Sgt. Hudson said.

A Texas Department of Public Safety SWAT team disarmed the man, identified as Jason Beyale, 43, of New Mexico.

He was treated for a head laceration at Olney Hamilton Hospital and booked into the Young County Jail.

Mr. Beyale, a citizen of the Navajo Nation, has an extensive criminal history, including previous arson and burglary charges, Sgt. Hudson said.

It was not immediately clear to police how Mr. Beyale arrived in Olney, he said. The Texas Rangers are investigating the case, he said.

He has been charged with ten burglary-related charges in New Mexico’s Bernalillo County, as well as assault, evading arrest and illegal possession of a firearm, jail records show. He was in jail in lieu of $275,000, jail records show.