22-year-old deputy driving drunk tries to ram cop car in 130-mph chase, Florida cops say
A Florida deputy is accused of driving more than 100 mph while under the influence and trying to ram a patrol car during a chase, the sheriff’s office said.
The 22-year-old was hired as a detention deputy trainee in 2020 and became a deputy sheriff in April, according to a Sept. 5 news release from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Just after 12 a.m. on Sept. 4, the deputy was off-duty and driving in a Subaru Impreza when he passed a group of deputies monitoring traffic near Lakeland, the sheriff’s office said.
One deputy clocked the car going 105 mph in a 60-mph zone, while another used a laser speed detector and saw the vehicle had sped up to 117 mph, according to the release.
The deputies tried to catch up to the car to conduct a traffic stop, but, the driver didn’t stop and instead increased speed to 130 mph in a 45-mph zone, the sheriff’s office said.
The off-duty deputy led other deputies on a chase, first going through a stop sign and then hitting a concrete median, the sheriff’s office said.
The crash damaged the Subaru’s front tires, but the driver continued, according to the release.
“The vehicle was able to get into the westbound lanes, and at one point swerved towards one of the deputy’s patrol vehicles in an aggressive manner, almost striking his patrol vehicle,” the sheriff’s office said.
Deputies then used a PIT maneuver, a precision immobilization technique, to stop the Subaru, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies said the driver refused to get out of the car and “appeared to be impaired/intoxicated.”
He was taken into custody and charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting without violence, resisting with violence, fleeing to elude, leaving the scene of a crash with property damage, reckless driving and driving under the influence, according to the release.
He was also issued multiple traffic citations accusing him of speeding and running a stop sign, the sheriff’s office said.
The deputy resigned once he was arrested, according to the release.
“This kind of driving and reckless behavior is unacceptable for any responsible citizen, let alone a deputy sheriff. It is hard to describe how disappointed and angry I am towards (the deputy’s) dangerously stupid behavior. Had he not resigned, he would have been fired. We will absolutely hold him accountable for his criminal conduct,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in the release.
Lakeland is about 35 miles east of Tampa.
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