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DPS releases documents from deadly Heston Silbert chase

Posted at 10:22 PM, Sep 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-09-14 21:10:34-04

DPS has released the internal interviews it did with Lt. Col. Heston Silbert following a 90-mile pursuit across the Valley that ultimately resulted in the suspect's death.

Silbert was off-duty and in his personal truck when he witnessed a man appear to carjack a vehicle from a construction site.

Silbert then followed the man, 29-year-old Bradley Moore, until Moore crashed off a cliff in Camp Verde. He died from his injuries.

DPS conducted an investigation, looking into Silbert's actions on that day.

In a nearly three-hour interview, Silbert stands by his choice to follow Moore. He told dispatchers up front that he did not have police equipment and was not technically working. He said he followed him because it is his duty in keeping the community safe.

"There's a point that as an off-duty officer, I could have driven home. Some people could live with that, but I can't," he told detectives.

When the detective asked Silbert why he did not back off after he was told numerous times, he blamed a breakdown in communication and a lack of officers on the ground. 

"I was waiting for somebody just to tell me 'You're done, you're out of it, we've got people,' but I had a responsibility, in my opinion, to stay with it until somebody said we were taking over."

DPS cleared Silbert of any wrongdoing. However, Silbert is facing a wrongful death lawsuit from Moore's family.