On Tuesday, December 26, 2017, the Nolan County Sheriff’s Office received a call regarding an individual threatening to kill another Nolan County resident over domestic relationship problems ongoing between the two parties. The same individual had threatened suicide over the last couple of days and was being sought by law enforcement for welfare reasons as well as a suspect in the recent threat.
At 7:12AM, Tuesday morning, Deputy Daniel King was dispatched to an address on East Bradford Lane, just east of Sweetwater regarding this subject. The suspect, Daniel Eller, was communicating via cell phone to the victim that he was threatening, stating that he was going to kill her. Deputy King responded to the victim’s address and spoke with the female party there. The suspect was not at or near the address at that point, but NCSO personnel began searching the surrounding area looking for Eller in the vehicle described. Sgt. Angie Collier, with the Nolan County Sheriff’s Office did locate the suspect in the eastbound I-20 rest area near mile marker 256 in Nolan County at abut 9:00AM. The suspect was driving a dark blue colored Dodge truck with a work or utility type bed. Sgt. Collier and Nolan County Constable Stephen Smith began giving Eller verbal commands to exit his vehicle. The suspect, (Eller) was considered to be armed and dangerous. Eller refused directives given to him by officers at the scene. When officers began trying to evacuate the rest area of pedestrians, Eller decided to speed off and a law enforcement pursuit began.
Eller refused to stop for pursuing law enforcement units and continued in what turned out to be an extensive pursuit that extended into and around Tent in Taylor County and back into Nolan County, and at times reached speeds of up to 104 miles per hour. The suspect went all the way west on I-20 to Roscoe then back on I-20 eastbound. Eller exited just east of Sweetwater and actually drove by the residence where the victim lived. Eller did not slow down or stop at the victim’s house due to the heavy presence of law enforcement that had already been staged at the house. During this pursuit, the suspect continued to make cell phone calls to the victim and other parties. The suspect made statements like he wouldn’t be taken alive and made references to going out by “suicide by cop.”
The suspect got back onto the Interstate and headed east bound again. By this time there were numerous units of the Texas Department of Public Safety involved and assisting in the pursuit. Texas DPS Troopers was able to successfully deploy spike strips at about the 258 mile marker. As Eller’s tires were beginning to deflate, he actually increased speed and attempted to run into a bridge support column in an act of attempted suicide. Not being able to control his vehicle well, Eller missed the bridge support column and hit a guard rail that disabled his vehicle.
Eller was eventually taken into custody at 10:07AM after a 27 minute standoff with law enforcement. Sgt. Collier transported Eller to the Nolan County jail where he was booked in on Evading Arrest with Vehicle, a 3rd Degree Felony. Thankfully, nobody was injured in the pursuit or standoff and the investigation continues with additional criminal charges to be filed against Eller. We are very appreciative of all the area agencies that assisted in this matter, especially the many DPS Troopers that supported us.
Sheriff David Warren
On Tuesday, February 27, 2018, a Nolan County deputy stopped a black Toyota Sequoia in the 100 block of Crane Street for a minor traffic infraction. Contact was then made with the driver, of Sweetwater who was accompanied by Chad Eugene Parsons, also of Sweetwater.
