MELBOURNE, Fla. – A 41-year-old man attempting to avoid a traffic stop drove recklessly behind homes and off-road in a Melbourne neighborhood before ultimately flipping his vehicle, Melbourne police dash camera video shows.
A Melbourne police officer was conducting a neighborhood patrol in the Quail Village subdivision around 2 a.m. Tuesday when the officer spotted a BMW SUV parked in a driveway, according to the report. The officer wrote that the man in the vehicle, later identified as Rolondeous Gray, 41, was drinking out of a clear glass liquor bottle.
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Soon after, the BMW was spotted leaving the neighborhood and rolled through a stop sign, so the officer turned on the cruiser lights to pull him over for a traffic violation and under suspicion of DUI, officials said.
The BMW began fleeing, dash camera video shows, driving through a traffic light at 52 mph in a 35 mph zone. According to the arrest report, the BMW drove the wrong way on several streets before weaving behind homes in the neighborhood.
.@MelbournePolice share video of DUI suspect taking pursuing officer on a dangerous ride through neighborhoods and yards, ending with a rollover crash. @news6wkmg pic.twitter.com/3YJE7hymQl
— James Sparvero (@News6James) May 27, 2021
After about four minutes of driving at high speeds throughout a residential area, the BMW hit a metal pole on a backstreet off Mathers Street, flipping onto its side, the video shows.
The officer wrote that he engaged Gray in the pursuit because Gray was “driving impaired, and a risk to the public.”
Before the crash, police said the pursuit went through Janie Thompson’s yard on Swan Street.
“They just said they had to chase him and catch him. That’s all they said. And I said, ‘Well, this is not a road over here,’” Thompson said.
Thompson said she heard the cars driving in her yard, barreling through a tight space between the side of her house and a chain-link fence.
“I just thought it was the house. Boom, it went boom,” she described.
Gray was pulled from the vehicle and arrested. The officer said gin was found in a glass bottle and white substances that tested positive for cocaine were also discovered.
Gray failed a field sobriety test and was taken to a hospital before he was booked into the Brevard County Jail.
Gray faces numerous charges, including aggravated fleeing with injury or property damage, cocaine possession, DUI, leaving the scene of a crash and reckless driving.
He posted a $28,500 bond before he was scheduled to face a judge for his initial appearance.