High-tech car, tree thwart auto theft

Occasionally, we hear about people stealing HPD bait cars, the vehicles police equip wih cameras, GPS and remote disabling features and then set out for people to help themselves to. And we always wonder how the thieves react when they find out they've stolen a car they're sure to get caught in. Well, it looks like one car thief freaked out yesterday, ending up with the bait car standing upright against a tree.

Police say Dedtrich Williams stole the bait Cadillac, which was parked in front of a mall. Officers started chasing Williams, but the chase didn't last long: He ended up crashing the car into a tree in northwest Houston. "We saw it flipped. We were screaming. It was really scary," eyewitness Kellie Curley told KTRK. "I thought he was dead, because he just went straight up on the tree. It was bad."

Witnesses said Williams got out of the car and sttared running, but police caught him. He's been charged with auto theft and evading arrest — no word on whether he's in trouble for damage to a bait car. Or a tree.