He's just saw a police car. >> On December [snorts] 5th, 2024 in Sedona, Arizona, officers are led on a wild goose chase around the entire city when a suspect continuously breaks into people's homes, calls 911, and then leaves as officers follow the breadcrumbs leading to the suspect's location. They're forced into their own worst nightmare. >> Hi. >> Hey, that's >> Are you in here by yourself? >> Yes. >> Did you call 911? No, there was a guy here as asked to use it >> the telephone, >> the phone. And I I I said, "Well, if it's a local local call, sure." >> Yeah, he called 911 a couple times. Um said that he didn't want to get in trouble by his mom. How old was he? >> 24. >> Did you know him? >> No. >> But you didn't recognize him as somebody that lives anywhere around here. What color was he? >> White. >> What did he look like? >> Ready. Did he happen to have a blue hooded sweatshirt on? >> I I didn't really, but it's possible. Yes. >> Any tattoos on his face? >> I don't think so. But but his face was really ruddy, you know, and >> Okay. Ruddy like um like acne scars. Like that kind of ruddy. >> Like Well, just just very very ruddy. >> Okay. King Juan, he said he was a white male around 24 years old. Very ruddy face. Red. And what direction did he go after he left here? >> Out the door. >> Okay. So, he came in, used the phone, and then went out the front door. >> Yeah. >> Okay. All right. I We have a burglary in progress. I have to go. >> If he comes back, please call our dispatch. >> Officers now receive reports of the suspect throwing a chair through the windows of a home and entering to use their phone to call 911 as well as his own mother. When officers arrive at the house, the suspect was reported to still be in the area. Police hands up >> POLICE DEPARTMENT. IF YOU'RE OUT HERE, make yourself known. You're going to get hurt. That's probably the same person that was just at sunset. I asked the old man at sunset if he was wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt and he couldn't say, "Did you see a gentleman out here in a blue hooded sweatshirt?" No. >> Don't approach him. Police Department. I bet guarantee that was him at the the sunset. >> So he called he called his mom through your phone. >> He called his mom. His mom called back, left the message here and listen. >> Okay. >> Can we have her number? >> He threw a chair through the next house, the window and the next house down and it was this neighbor that called you. >> He also went into the Sunset Mobile Home Park into the office and called from the landline there too. 911. So let's get um let's get her number real quick. Can I open this, sir? >> Sure. Come on. Right ahead. Make yourself. >> Do you have her phone number? The mom. Uh, yes. I I will. >> Here. This is the cell phone number. >> That's her cell phone. >> It probably is. >> I could. Blue long sleeve sweatshirt. >> Okay. >> Hey, this is Officer Bea PD. So, do you have a phone number? You don't have a way to reach contact your son. Anybody here that >> No, I don't. >> We haven't found him yet. He's creating a lot of damage. um breaking windows, throwing chairs through them, and what >> he's bleeding his um we can't find him right now. >> Oh my god. Oh my god. >> The Hampton in called and asked if we would trespass him. He ran before I got there to make contact with him. >> It's fight or flight. That's what he does. Scared. >> Then he went into the uh the mobile home park on Sunset Drive. Are you familiar with the area at all? >> No, not really. We're staying out in Cottonwood. >> Okay. So he went into the mobile home park into their office, used the landline, called Sedona PD a couple times, wouldn't identify, and we didn't know it was him, but he was whispering, "I don't want to get in trouble by my mom." Um, >> oh god, he's so scared. I'm so sorry. I'm >> So then on Northw Drive, he threw a chair through the front window of someone's house and then he went to the neighbor's house and now >> God, he's never done this before. Honest to God, he's never done this before. He's never done this before. Never never been this >> never been this um >> when we do make contact with him. Um should we expect for him to be aggressive? Cuz what we are considering right now is that he's aggressive. >> No. No, he's not aggressive. He's just he's scared. He's scared. >> Does he take any medications? >> No, he's not on anything right now. >> Can you come this way? >> Yes. I'm in Sedona. I I'm looking out here. >> So, as soon as you turn on North View, you're going to see our red and blue lights. All right. Well, let me fill my sergeant in. Okay. >> All right. >> All right. Thank you. >> All right. >> Mom is turning around at a Royal Pinion right now. She's going to come here, but she he didn't tell her where he was at. And so she's like, he's probably a scaredless. >> I'm sure he is. >> As the two officers now split up, one officer interviews some of the burglary victims while the other finds a male matching the description sitting behind a building. >> Hey, Nathan. Nathan. Oh, >> okay. I'm sorry, >> Derek. >> Derek. Okay. >> And then he came back in. He went in, laid down on her bed. >> Oh gosh. He asked for a glass of water and I gave him a glass in the when I gave it to him, he said, "Did you put anything in this?" >> He thought you were trying to hurt him. Yeah. >> Well, but then when he went when he lay down on the bed, he said, "You put something in the water that's made me sick." >> I was making sure you're not Nathan. >> Sorry. >> All right. You don't have any cuts on you, do you? >> Nope. >> Yeah. Look at Nathan. He's got cuts on. He >> ran into me. >> Where? >> So, he came to my van. I didn't know who I saw his mom. >> He's got cuts on him. You ran into him. >> Homie's bleeding me. >> Yeah. I didn't know he So, last time I saw him, he's on this road somewhere. No farther than like 200 yards. >> Okay. All right. Thank you. >> I said I did. This is the best water in Sedona right here. His hand. And this this is over. Yeah. >> A person just told me they saw him there Brewery. So far, I don't see him there. near the brewery, but they said it could he also could have been walking towards contractors or that area. >> This will be your suspect. He's inside the store. >> He's in the road. >> DON'T RUN. DON'T RUN. >> He's running from me. Where'd he go? He's >> straight up ahead. >> Yeah, I don't know which way. >> No, straight up on your right. That's right there in the middle. >> Okay, I got you. >> He's still running up coffee plot northbound. >> That's affirmative. >> Get on your knees. >> GET ON YOUR KNEES. GET ON YOUR KNEES. DON'T RUN. DON'T I'm not going TO SHOOT YOU. DON'T RUN. >> I'M HERE. >> GET DOWN. GET UNDERNEATH. >> I'M HERE. >> Get down. We're not going to SHOOT YOU. >> OKAY. I'M OKAY. >> We're not going to shoot you. >> Just scared. >> Making contact. >> All right, Nathan. You're good. You're good. You're good. >> Hey, get on your knees. >> Get on your knees. >> COME ON. >> COME ON. GET DOWN, BABY. GET DOWN. >> Get down. You're okay. You're okay. You're okay, Nate. NOBODY'S GOING TO HURT YOU. >> Don't you get in that car. Don't you GET IN THAT CAR. DON'T DO IT. >> GET AWAY FROM THAT CAR. >> NO. HE'S STEALING A POLICE CAR. >> GET OUT OF THE CAR RIGHT NOW. >> He's just stole a police car. What's going on? He just stole a cop car. OH MY GOD, he crashed the car. Get on the ground. GET ON THE GROUND NOW. You will be found. I will not shoot you. GET ON THE GUN. I WON'T SHOOT YOU. Taser deployed. Stay back, MA'AM. >> STAY BACK. >> TACKLE HIM. DON'T SHOOT ME. >> TACKLE HIM. DON'T SHOOT ME. >> GET ON THE GROUND. [screaming] SHOOT HIM. PUT IN THE HANDCUFFS. DON'T SHOOT ME. HELP, >> NATHAN. Come on. Do what I ask you. Do what I ask you. Put your hand behind your back and you won't get tased. >> Relax. Put your hand behind your back. >> You're about to get tased again. Nathan, just please do what I asked you to do. Please put your hand on behind your back. Come on. Please put your hand by >> cooperate. You're going through something. >> Come on, buddy. >> Nobody wants to hurt you. >> No one wants to hurt you. Okay, stay back. Okay, come on, Nathan. >> Stay back, ma'am. Get that guy with me. >> Nathan, you're fine. >> Nathan, stop it. DON'T PUNCH ME. I'M DEAD. I'M DEAD. I'M DEAD. I'm dead. >> Mom, bring me back. Mom, >> HE'S RESISTING TASTE. >> DO you want taste again? >> Nope. >> Let your hand go. >> Let go. Help! Help! HELP! HELP! Save me. I'm a good guy. Save me. I'm a good guy. >> We're going to put the We're going to I'm going to lift up his knees. We're going to put him underneath. >> No. >> All right. Now, we're going to strap him in. Ready? One, two, three. Okay, we got to go feet first. >> Into the car. >> All right. >> Is he going to be treated to jail? >> He will eventually. Yes. You >> ruined a pop. >> Yeah, ma'am. THIS WE'RE DONE. WE'RE DONE TALKING, MA'AM. >> This is not normal behavior. You know that. >> You can see that this is not normal behavior. This is not normal. It's not normal. He's not on drugs. He's not on drugs. I'm not on drugs. >> We never said he was. >> And he's and he's not. You're going to You're going to see he's got I have the proof. I have the proof. >> You'll you'll you'll believe the attorneys about that. >> Yeah. He stole my car and crashed it. >> Yeah. >> This suspect, Nathan Nichols, was taken to jail on charges of theft of means of transport. Four counts of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, unlawful flight from law enforcement, two counts of resisting arrest with physical [music] force, first-degree criminal trespassing, two counts of criminal damage, two counts of disorderly conduct and assault. Court records indicate that while in jail for this incident, Nathan allegedly assaulted jail workers, causing him to pick up three more counts of aggravated assault to a correctional employee. Reports indicate court evaluations have since determined that Nathan is incompetent to stand trial. However, judges are in the process of reviewing whether involuntary psychiatric treatment, including court-ordered medication, is necessary to restore his competency so he can face prosecution. While competency issues remain unresolved, Nathan has not yet stood trial [music] or been sentenced for the incident. He is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. Now, we know that police deal with all types of criminal behavior, but sometimes the person behind that behavior has a whole lot more going on underneath. And when that spills over, the danger isn't just what they do, it's how fast the scene keeps changing while you're trying to catch up to it. Now, I've dealt with calls that didn't stare in one place. They're absolutely fractured because one moment you're trying to calm tension, and the next you're chasing somebody from street to street, and every new location feels like you just walked into the middle of a story that's getting way out of hand. Now, I'm not going to pretend that I never made a mistake as a cop, but the problem with that is one small mistake on the street can create numerous massive problems for everyone else. Something as simple as not locking a patrol car creates problems that nobody needed, and suddenly the job gets heavier for everybody. Sometimes on this job, it isn't the big moments that change everything in the scene. It's a tiny moment you thought didn't matter. a running car, an unlocked door, and now an unstable man is behind the wheel of a police car that was never meant for him. But the weight that shows up afterward is heavy because you ask yourself questions when you're driving home. And that question is, if that car had gone a little bit further, who would have paid for my mistake?