Caught On Video: Tulsa Police Helicopter Chases Suspect

The man arrested in a stolen truck after a 40-minute chase over the weekend was wanted for tossing contraband over a prison fence. The Tulsa Police have released footage of the chase captured from their helicopter.

Records show Cody Matthews is charged with tossing three bags over the fence at the Cimarron Correctional Facility last summer. Prosecutors say the bags were wrapped in duct tape and disguised with grass and contained 15 cell phones, 14 chargers and 11 ounces of tobacco. He didn't get arrested until December, and a warrant was issued earlier this month when he didn't show up for court, then officers say they spotted him in a stolen truck Sunday evening.

Police Two: "Got white, flatbed truck going at a high rate of speed, turning off Harvard and onto Archer, cutting northwest across a parking lot."

Tulsa Officers Dave Shelby and Rock Clark were in the helicopter called Police Two and called out the pursuit from above so the officers on the ground could stay back at a safe distance blocking intersections ahead of him, although at times, it was impossible to protect citizens because he drove the wrong way on two different highways.

Police Two: "He's now going northbound in the southbound lanes of 169, north of the high school."

Officers stayed on the proper side of the road but kept following. Traffic was light, but he headed right toward some vehicles. Those drivers managed to avoid him. Finally, to avoid stop sticks, he went off the road.

6/15/2015 Related Story: Police Chase From Tulsa To Nowata Ends With Arrest

Police Two: "Okay, he's going cross country to avoid a unit, trying to get on 169, might be getting bogged down in the wet ground, he's still heading cross country."

He finally came to a stop, and officers arrested Cody Matthews.

Records show he has two previous drug convictions in Rogers County and was just charged in Tulsa County with having a drug pipe, meth and a loaded gun while passed out in a vehicle. That case and the prison contraband case are both still pending.

Matthews was booked into jail for a long list of complaints associated with Sunday's chase including running from police, driving under the influence, driving without a license, running roadblocks and even kidnapping - because the woman in the truck with him told police she wasn't there of her own free will.