Chase suspect threatened murder, suicide because of wife’s alleged affair with cop
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — The 911 call from a man who allegedly held his family hostage while leading police on a chase last week shows he did it because he believed his wife was having an affair with a police officer.
The call was finaly released around 9:15 p.m. Tuesday; five days after Wilmington Police asked a judge to seal them. That doesn't usually happen, but in this case, police said they had to to fully understand what happened. Evangelous also said he reached out to the State Bureau of Investigation immediately following Thursday's incident, which turned into a chase that ended at WPD headquarters, to investigated, but he said SBI decided the situation did not meet its criteria to get get involved. An internal WPD investigation continues.
At a news conference Tuesday evening, Evangelous said an alleged affair between an officer and the wife of a chase suspect was the motive behind the incident that ended at WPD headquarters. Evangelous said if the affair is confirmed, the officer could face disciplinary action.
Police say Jairo Checo, 34, called 911 at 5:38 a.m. Thursday saying he had his wife and children in a car and was threatening to kill them. In the call Checo says he also wants to kill himself. Police say Checo led them on a chase for more than an hour through the city and county. Checo was on the phone with 911 the entire time. Police said Checo made them believe he had a gun.
"I just want to make sure you know I have a gun, and I'm going to kill them right now," Checo told the operator. "I just found out something really, really bad about my wife, and I don't want to live, so I'm just going to kill her and my two childs (sic), and then I'm going to kill myself."
Click on the video above to hear more of the call
After that, Checo drove through the gate at the police department by following someone on their way to work. Once inside, Evangelous said Checo hit Sgt. Matt Ingram's squad car. Ingram shot at Checo's car but missed. When Checo got out, police tased him and discovered he did not have a weapon and that his wife and kids were fine.
Checo faces charges including first degree kidnapping, child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon on a law enforcement officer.
The officer accused by Checo is still on active duty. Evangelous would not release that officer's name, but did say that officer was on duty at the time of the incident. Since that incident, Sgt. Matt Ingram has been placed on paid administrative as the shooting is investigated. Nobody was hit by the shots, police said. Ingram was hired by WPD in February 1999.
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