Dashcam Llano County Involved Shooting Bank Robbery Suspect

A man wanted in connection with 2 bank robberies in Lake Charles La. was shot multiple times by Llano County Deputies and DPS troopers when he refused to comply with officer’s commands to drop a weapon he had pulled out of a saddle bag from a motorcycle during a traffic stop near Hwy 71 and CR 305 in eastern Llano County.

Jeffery Wise 52, of Austin had a warrant for 1.5 million dollars out of Lake Charles for robbing JD Bank on March 9 and Whitney Bank on April 16. According to the FBI Wise was seen in the Houston area circling several banks before returning to the Austin area. Lake Charles PD sent an officer to Austin to work on a plan to capture Wise when he was supposed to report for a parole hearing at the federal courthouse. Wise was on parole for previous bank robberies.

The plan was to let him walk through the metal detectors and once officers were sure he was not armed he would be taken down. When Wise pulled into the parking lot he got spooked and never went inside and instead left the area on a black Harley Davidson motorcycle. A pursuit ensued and Wise headed west on Hwy 71 towards San Saba. While he was travelling Llano dispatchers were on the phone with Lake Charles PD who was pinging his cell and updating his location.

A DPS officer was able to locate Wise near CR 307 westbound and followed the suspect until a Llano County Deputy was able to catch up to provide assistance. A traffic stop was initiated near CR 305 and Hwy 71 and Wise pulled over and immediately started digging in a saddle bag on the left side of the bike. Wise was commanded several times to raise his hands and stop digging in the bags, but refused all commands and eventually pulled a hand gun from the bags before he was shot multiple times by officers and fell to the ground. While on the ground Wise still refused officers commands and shot himself.

An investigation was done by the Texas Rangers and the case was reviewed by a grand jury which issued a no bill. The investigation has since been closed and no officers were found at fault in the case.