Man flees authorities, drives into home

Law enforcement officers are looking for a man they say assaulted his estranged wife in Orangefield, then victimized another family nearby when he crashed into their home while trying to get away.

Deputies found the suspect's wife bleeding heavily, while a teenager in the other home barely escaped injury.

Janie Shackelford's home on South Terry Road didn't look like this when she left for work Wednesday morning.

"got a phone call at 6:05 this morning telling me a truck was in my house," says Janie Shackelford.

Deputies say a man driving an F-250 while speeding away from his estranged wife's home hit the railroad tracks.

"Apparently he was going too fast, couldn't stop and slid into that residence," says Orange County Sheriff's Office Detective Chad Hogan.

"I heard a big bam and came in there and saw headlights going through our house," says Kayla Shackelford.

17 year old Kayla Shackelford was inside.

"She would've been seriously injured. There was a big TV thrown on top of the couch where she was sleeping," says Janie Shackelford.

"I crawled over the truck to get out," says Kayla.

The suspect got out of the truck and ran away. Officers surrounded the area from Terry to Pipeline Road, but turned up nothing after a few hours of searching the woods.

"Don't know if maybe he got through before the entire perimeter was set up," says Det. Hogan.

Police say the man broke into his estranged wife's home on Linscomb Street and beat her.

"Doesn't appear to be life threatening injuries, which is a blessing on her part, because looking at the scene, you would suspect would be a lot worse," says Det. Hogan.

Back on Terry Road, the Shackelford's will need a place to stay.

"Probably totalled. The beams underneath it is cracked, ain't no blocks underneath is," says Shackelford.

But say they feel lucky no one else was injured, by the man driving this truck.

"Could've been a lot worse than what it is. It could've been a lot worse," says Shackelford.

Investigators say they aren't releasing the suspect's name until they get a warrant for his arrest.

The Red Cross has offered to place the family in a hotel for the next few days.

If you have any information about the assault call EasTex Crime Stoppers at 724-TIPS.