Driver fleeing troopers at 130 mph slams into parked tractor trailer, Florida cops say
A Florida driver is accused of hitting speeds of more than 130 mph during a high-speed chase on Interstate 4, state troopers said.
On Feb. 26, a trooper was on I-4 in Seminole County when they saw a vehicle pass at an alarming speed, according to a Feb. 27 news release from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The trooper clocked the vehicle at around 100 mph in the 60 mph zone, FHP said, so they turned on their emergency lights and sirens and tried to pull the vehicle over.
Instead of stopping, the driver, later identified as a 22-year-old man from Orlando, drove off I-4 and across a median of County Road 46A, FHP said. Then he picked up speed again, police said.
The trooper followed and saw the driver run a red light before making a U-turn and going the opposite direction down the county road, troopers said.
The driver took the on-ramp to get back on I-4, according to FHP, and picked up speed.
Soon, the driver was going more than 130 mph, troopers said. He was swerving around the road and turning the vehicle’s lights on and off, according to FHP.
The driver took an exit for a rest stop off I-4, but he lost control of the vehicle and slammed into a tractor trailer parked at the stop, FHP said.
“The driver then fled on foot, leaving injured passengers within the crashed and disabled vehicle,” FHP said.
The number of passengers or their ages were not released by state troopers, but highway patrol said there were no serious injuries.
Troopers found the running man soon after, and he was taken into custody, FHP said.
Inside the vehicle, troopers said they found a firearm with ammunition and marijuana.
The driver was cleared for injuries at a hospital, then charged with resisting officers without violence, driving without a valid license, hit-and-run involving injury, aggravated fleeing from police with injury or damage, and reckless driving, FHP said.
While troopers were searching for the runaway driver, a woman, 39, who told officials her “kid” was in the vehicle that crashed, arrived at the scene, state troopers said.
Without any significant injuries, troopers said the woman was asked to leave but became “verbally abusive and made verbal threats towards the trooper’s family,” according to FHP.
She was also taken into custody and charged with making threats to a law enforcement officer, troopers said.
The two were arrested in Longwood, about 15 miles north of Orlando.
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