FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – A woman on a first date became an unwilling participant fleeing Flagler County law enforcement when her date told her he wouldn't stop because he would be arrested, according to an arrest report.
Flagler County deputies attempted to make a traffic stop Thursday of a gray Dodge Charger at Palm Coast Parkway in Palm Coast. The vehicle stopped at the First Baptist Church but then fled again, according to the arrest report.
The deputy, with lights and sirens on, followed the Charger onto U.S. Highway 1. After reaching County Road 205 and Florida Highway 100 West the deputy deployed stop sticks which hit the tires but the car continued moving.
Deputies found the vehicle on Sherwood Street where a woman was standing behind the Dodge and the driver was nowhere in sight.
The woman said she met the driver, who goes by Mike and Craig, online and the two went to Denny’s on 7 Kings Way for dinner.
"They were going to Denny's in the middle of the night. She didn't really know his last name. She knew him by two different first names," Flagler County Sheriff's Office Chief Chris Sepe said.
The woman said she drove to Denny’s but as they were leaving, she asked the suspect to drive because she wasn’t feeling well.
According to the report, the pair were on the way back to her house when the Flagler deputy tried to pull over the car. The woman said she told “Mike” to stop and replied that he couldn’t because he would go to jail.
"She asked him several times to pull the car over, (said) that she had a valid driver's license, she would drive the car and he just kept saying that he 'Was going to go to jail, go to jail," Sepe said. "So, he was exceeding the speed limit driving very erratically."
Volusia County Air Once helicopter searched for the man without finding him.
The investigation is ongoing.