05/10/14 Memphis, TN – Mental Illness Patient Pushes Police Officer Down – Steals Patrol Car – Chase – Police Officer Injured Breaking Window

May 10, 2014

wreg.com

The family of the man who took police on a high-speed chase Saturday says Marcus Hill is a good person, just suffering from mental illness.

They say they were shocked when he jumped into a police car and took off. Hill’s cousin says the 23-year-old needs help.

The police chase ended around 1 p.m at Mississippi and Trigg in South Memphis. No one was seriously injured, which was a relief for the suspect’s family who thought the chase might have ended tragically.

The chase started on Seattle off Lamar.

“His hands were just moving back and forth and he couldn’t control it,” said Samuel Hill, the suspect’s cousin.

Hill says his cousin had a mental break with reality. He called 911 to get him help but when police showed-up, he says his cousin, Marcus Hill, only wanted an ambulance, “He just came on the porch, pushed one of the officers and walked down that way and came back and jumped in the car and sped off.”

He stole an officer’s car and took police on a chase onto Memphis highways and streets until officers blocked him in just a few miles from where the chase started.

“I just ran outside and they had him on the ground, of course, beating him,” said Partee. “And then he jumped up and said stupid stuff like ‘Ya’ll breaking my leg!’ but you know he stole the police car.”

“I don’t think they handled it too good because they didn’t need to put their feet on his neck if he is a mental patient,” said a woman lives across the street from where the chase ended.

“He needed it,” said Partee. “He took the police car! Come on! You don’t do that. They are out here serving and protecting.”

Samuel says he’s just glad his cousin is alive, “I am glad he is safe and they got him in custody.”

An officer had to be taken to Regional One for injuring his arm after he broke the patrol car window in order to capture the man who’d taken Memphis police on the wild ride.

Samuel says his cousin has been suffering from some sort of mental illness since last year and hopes the justice system gets his cousin the help he needs.