WESTWOOD, MA (WFXT/CNN) – In the middle of a multi-town police chase, a suspect ditched his car in a parking lot then went into a nearby business to apply for a job.
Carefree, his arms resting casually on the front desk, 26-year-old Jose Jimenez raised no red flags Tuesday when he asked the manager of an electronics business in Westwood, MA, if he was hiring.
"Cool as a cucumber, no sweaty hands, clean shirt,” said Jeff Moran, general manager of Osprey Wireless.
Surveillance video shows Moran lead Jimenez into his office, where the 26-year-old picks up a pen and fills out an application.
The interview was going well.
But outside the premises, police were searching Jimenez’s abandoned car, seizing wads of cash, after Jimenez allegedly ran over a trooper’s foot last Thursday during a traffic stop.
Service manager Bryan Carpenter, whom the suspect had initially approached, noticed the police activity and sensed something was wrong.
"I just got a bad feeling, just something didn't feel right,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter approached police and told them about the strange man inside his workplace.
"I described to him what he looked like. Then he showed me a picture, and I said, 'Yeah, that looks like him,’” Carpenter said.
Eight minutes into the interview, officers entered the building, two at the front entrance and two led by Carpenter through the back.
"They grab him, and he starts to tussle with him. The other two come in, guns in hand, and they said to him, 'You didn't think that we weren't going to find you, did ya?’” Moran said.
As a handcuffed Jimenez is escorted outside, surveillance video captures a celebratory high-five and hug between Moran and Carpenter. Both say they’re grateful no one was hurt.
"We're very fortunate that that's how it ended – for us, anyway – not for him but for us,” Moran said.
Jimenez is being held on a $250,000 bail. He faces several charges, including assault and battery on a police officer with a dangerous weapon and failure to stop for police.
"Very interesting job interview, to say the least,” Moran said.
Copyright 2017 WFXT, Massachusetts State Police via CNN. All rights reserved.
