BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A man arrested Wednesday in Brevard County is accused of driving off from an attempted traffic stop, then using a young child as a human shield while he was ordered out of his vehicle at gunpoint, according to the sheriff’s office.
A deputy around 3:30 p.m. saw Randall Miranda II, 52, make a right turn from eastbound Aurora Road to southbound U.S. 1 without coming to a complete stop at the posted red light, according to Miranda’s probable cause affidavit. Now approaching U.S. 1′s intersection with Sunset Drive, the deputy switched on their lights and siren to conduct a traffic stop for a moving violation, the affidavit states.
Miranda’s vehicle slowly pulled to the right, yet it continued to roll southbound until driving over the north curb and onto Sunset Drive, then over the roadway’s south curb, onto the southbound sidewalk and back onto southbound U.S. 1, cutting off traffic in the process, according to the affidavit.
The vehicle eventually pulled off and came to a stop in the 200 block of S. Babcock Street, at which time deputies moved in and held Miranda — who was now in the back seat — at gunpoint, the affidavit states. Miranda then grabbed one of two children who were with him in the vehicle “and held him in front of him as a shield,” deputies said.
Miranda was forcefully removed from the vehicle and arrested, according to the affidavit. He was booked a few hours later and faces charges of fleeing and eluding a police officer, reckless driving, driving with license suspended (habitual offender), resisting an officer without violence and two counts of child neglect with great bodily harm.
At his first appearance in court Thursday, Miranda was appointed a public defender and ordered to have no further contact with the victims unless determined by the Department of Children and Families. The judge set Miranda’s bond at $59,000 and he was released Saturday afternoon, booking records show.
Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said on social media that the child Miranda is accused of using as a human shield is 4 years old, adding the other child is 3 years old.
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