Austin police ▲

An Austin police officer who joined the chase of a stolen vehicle without permission last summer has been suspended for seven days by the department.

Bryan McCulloch began serving his suspension on Jan. 10, and will not return to work until after Jan. 16, a disciplinary memo filed on Friday said.

According to the memo, McCullough was working in the southeastern sector of the city on July 20 when nearby officers began chasing a stolen vehicle.

"Without supervisor approval, Office McCulloch deployed a tire deflation device to stop the vehicle, which did not work," the memo said. "Officer McCulloch asked for permission to join the pursuit but received no response. Officer McCulloch, without supervisor approval, became the fourth unit involved in the pursuit as he tried to catch up to and trailed the pursuit."

As he gave chase, the memo said, McCulloch committed several traffic violations, including running red lights and stop signs without his lights and sirens on, and driving faster than 100 mph.

He also turned off his vehicle's recording system for 19 seconds without approval, the memo said.