Innocent Rockwall County college student seriously injured in police pursuit of stolen vehicle
ROCKWALL — Troy Dureault vividly remembers February 24. It was almost noon on a Saturday. The 23-year-old college student was on his way home from the bank with a cashier's check to buy a Camaro he'd been eyeing for two years.
"I was never really in a financially sound enough place to buy one until just recently," Troy Dureault said.
He's studying cybersecurity and bartends. Troy Dureault was preparing to go with his family to North Carolina to get his vehicle the following day. But the trip never happened.
"Whenever the light turned green, I started to go," Troy Dureault said
He would not make it through the intersection. According to the Rockwall County Sheriff's Office, Michael Joseph Breaux stole a Toyota Highlander from a gas station in Garland.
Investigators said the 41-year-old was not aware the victim was using a cell phone inside of the vehicle as a tracking device. Deputies were alerted the stolen SUV was in Rockwall.
A chase that initiated nearby Troy Dureault eventually came his way. The chase was less than two minutes, reaching 85 miles per hour. Deputies said the traffic light at Hwy 276 and John King Blvd was red; Breaux kept going and hit Troy.
"I couldn't tell you how many police cars were there," Suzanne Derault said. "And just kind of lost it, you know?"
Suzanne Dureault said Troy Dureault is her oldest child and only son. En route to the accident, a neighbor told her not to go that way. She kept going because her son's welfare was primary.
"And so I'm trying to run up to the scene, and I see them wheeling my son on the stretcher around one of the ambulances," Suzanne Dureault said.
She said Troy Dureault was silent but gave her the thumbs up that he was okay.
Deputies had the Breaux in custody, facing charges of aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, evading arrest, and unauthorized use of a vehicle. The stolen vehicle burned. A chase review by RCSO said the deputy followed policy.
"I was checking myself, like moving all of my body parts and everything to make sure that everything was still there," Troy Dureault said.
Troy Dureault's injuries became quite the list, with an air pocket in his left lung, fractures in his pelvis, his collarbone broken, and injuries to his legs and ankle.
But the college student who can't work, concentrate on their studies, or go home until next week doesn't harbor any malice about what happened.
His mother said now she knows her son's doing better and is angry.
"I don't know why this individual would want to run and cause this harm to anybody," Suzanne Dureault said.
Troy Dureault still wants to get that Camaro.
"After everything that I've been through, I want something to feel good about," he said. "So going through with this is kind of like me defying fate in a way. I guess."