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"Handsome Guy" Robber Captured

Mississippi Sheriffs have captured the alleged “Handsome Guy” bank robber, wanted for several Texas holdups, and for shooting at a Richardson Police officer. KERA’s Bill Zeeble has more on the high speed chase of Steven Ray Milam.

Dubbed the “handsome guy” bank robber for using a pricey latex mask during stickups, Milam was spotted Tuesday morning in Mississippi, heading west - towards Texas - along I-10. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd says an officer ran the car’s tag and it came back as a wanted person, driver, armed and dangerous.

Byrd: And the officer tried to pull the vehicle over and that’s when the pursuit began.

Byrd says other officers, including him, joined the chase that lasted sixteen miles and reached speeds of at least 85 miles an hour. Byrd says his team kept other drivers clear of the dangerous pursuit.

Byrd: We made three attempts to spike-strip the vehicle. He avoided the spike strips all three times. After the third attempt I made the decision to shoot the right rear tire out which deflated the tire and ended the pursuit.

Byrd says Milam appeared to throw a weapon from his moving car shortly before he stopped. Milam then refused to get out of the car, and was forcibly removed.

Byrd: When he got the sheriff’s office, he had vomited in the back of the patrol car and it looked like he had taken something.

Byrd says doctors pumped his stomach and he’ll be fine. They found an uncounted number of 100 dollar bills in his pockets. The Sheriff says 44 year-old Milam faces 11 federal counts of bank robbery, along with the attempted murder of a Richardson police officer.

Bill Zeeble has been a full-time reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine to the Mavericks and education to environmental issues.