At 1:30 a.m. on the morning of November 8, 1997, a rural resident of Kaufman County, near Mabank, Texas, returned home and drove up on three burglars who were attempting to burglarize one of his vehicles parked next to his house. Surprised by the resident, the burglars ran off in the direction of a wooded area. The resident quickly called the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office, who in turn called the Texas Department of Public Safety Air Unit located in Mesquite for assistance in locating the suspects. Senior Pilot Steve Powell was on duty at the hanger when the call came in and was quickly airborne and enroute to the Kaufman area. Trooper Tony McLemore, who is stationed in Terrell, was picked up at the Kaufman County Sheriff's Office and the crew proceeded to the Mabank area.

Kaufman County deputies had set up a loose perimeter on the wooded area in an attempt to keep the suspects from escaping. Upon their arrival, Trooper McLemore began searching the area with an Inframetrics gyrostabilized thermal imager mounted to the bottom of the DPS American Eurocopter AS350BA, A-Star helicopter. Senior Pilot Powell put the helicopter in a slow circle around a large field next to the wooded area in the direction that the resident had observed the suspects flee. The crew noticed several cattle and the associated "cow patties" in the area, but what drew their attention was a horizontal heat source in the open field next to the wooded area.

Trooper McLemore zoomed in on the target and the crew agreed that it had to be a person lying down in the grass. The Sheriff deputies were called in to investigate the target. As four deputies approached the target area Senior Pilot Powell lit up the area with the Nightsun searchlight. The target was not visible with the night sun due to the grass in the field being approximately 24" tall. However the target was still visible with the thermal imager.

Additional deputies arrived on the screen and the target area that was now illuminated with the Nightsun was approached from four different directions. As the deputies appeared in Trooper McLemore's screen, the crew talked them up to the target. As the deputies came within approximately twenty feet from the heat source the crew observed the suspect become verticle, as if he were going to his knees and then put his hands in the air as the deputies came within five feet. At this time, the suspect became more visible and a brighter heat source as he was no longer laying in 24 inches of grass. Also, the deputies on the ground could not see the suspect until he stood up. The call came quickly over the radio: "One in custody."