Traffic camera footage obtained by The Dallas Morning News via an open records request appears to show the beginning of a police chase involving Dallas Cowboys defensive end Marshawn Kneeland.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said last week in a news release that a state trooper attempted to perform a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Kneeland at about 10:33 p.m. Nov. 5 on northbound Dallas North Tollway, near Keller Springs Road in Addison. The chase ended after troopers lost sight of the vehicle. At 10:39 p.m., Frisco police said, the department received a request for help from DPS in locating the vehicle.
Authorities have not said what traffic violation led to the attempted traffic stop.
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In the video, a black Dodge Charger can be seen driving in the left-most lanes of the tollway when it passes a parked state trooper. After driving past, the trooper’s car can be seen pulling out to follow the Charger. A separate clip, timestamped at 10:38 p.m. near the Sam Rayburn Tollway interchange, shows the Charger driving faster than the other cars around it. A police cruiser with its emergency lights on can be seen trailing it.
The Charger was found “minutes later” crashed and abandoned in a field adjacent to the access road of the southbound lanes of Dallas Parkway in Frisco, near Warren Parkway. The Charger had collided with a Ford truck; the driver of the truck was not injured, police said.
According to a Plano police 911 call log, Frisco police contacted the department at about 11 p.m. and asked if Plano police could go to Kneeland’s Plano apartment to see if the vehicle had been stolen. According to the call log, officers arrived at Kneeland’s apartment at about 11:30 p.m. and did not receive a response.
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At about the same time, dispatch audio showed Kneeland’s girlfriend had called police to report Kneeland had texted his family goodbye and reported he had a history of mental illness and would “end it all.” The Plano call log also reports that someone from Prosper contacted police at about 11:43 p.m. to report that Kneeland had sent concerning messages to a group chat saying goodbye, and requested police perform a welfare check.
Kneeland was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at about 1:30 a.m., according to police dispatch audio. His body was found near the intersection of Network Boulevard and Gaylord Parkway, less than a mile from the scene of the crash and about a half-mile from The Star, the Cowboys’ practice facility and headquarters.
Kneeland was 24 years old.
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