NewsHound
07-17-2008, 07:29 PM
I-4 Driver Leads Troopers On Chase Through 3 Counties
A man running from a traffic stop led police and state troopers on a chase through three counties that lasted nearly an hour today before he was found at an apartment complex in Clermont.
It started about 12:27 p.m. when a Florida Highway Patrol trooper tried to pull over Raymond Velez on Interstate 4. The patrol was running an operation targeting speeders and was using an airplane to help spot potential offenders.
Troopers spotted Velez doing 94 mph near the I-4 interchange with State Road 559, the highway patrol said.
Velez sped away and the aircraft continued to follow his 1995 Honda south on Polk County Road 557 after the trooper on the ground broke off the chase.
The car continued through Lake Alfred where the driver tried to ram city police officers, the highway patrol said.
Traveling over local roads, the car wove through eastern Polk, into Osceola County and finally into Lake County with the aircraft still overhead.
In Clermont, the driver pulled into the Luna Dulce Apartments where he hit another car, though neither driver was injured, the patrol reported.
The driver then drove into a grassy area near a swimming pool and tried to run away.
About 1:30 p.m., officers found Velez, 20, of Kissimmee. He was charged with fleeing and eluding, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle and other traffic charges, the highway patrol said.
Click Here for The Source (http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/14/i-4-driver-leads-troopers-chase-through-3-counties/?news-breaking)
A man running from a traffic stop led police and state troopers on a chase through three counties that lasted nearly an hour today before he was found at an apartment complex in Clermont.
It started about 12:27 p.m. when a Florida Highway Patrol trooper tried to pull over Raymond Velez on Interstate 4. The patrol was running an operation targeting speeders and was using an airplane to help spot potential offenders.
Troopers spotted Velez doing 94 mph near the I-4 interchange with State Road 559, the highway patrol said.
Velez sped away and the aircraft continued to follow his 1995 Honda south on Polk County Road 557 after the trooper on the ground broke off the chase.
The car continued through Lake Alfred where the driver tried to ram city police officers, the highway patrol said.
Traveling over local roads, the car wove through eastern Polk, into Osceola County and finally into Lake County with the aircraft still overhead.
In Clermont, the driver pulled into the Luna Dulce Apartments where he hit another car, though neither driver was injured, the patrol reported.
The driver then drove into a grassy area near a swimming pool and tried to run away.
About 1:30 p.m., officers found Velez, 20, of Kissimmee. He was charged with fleeing and eluding, aggravated assault with a motor vehicle and other traffic charges, the highway patrol said.
Click Here for The Source (http://www2.tbo.com/content/2008/jul/14/i-4-driver-leads-troopers-chase-through-3-counties/?news-breaking)