ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – One man is facing a slew of charges after keeping deputies from the Orange County Sheriff's Office busy Sunday morning.
Vincent Joseph Botta, 24, is accused of crashing a stolen truck into a deputy's patrol car, stealing the patrol car, leading authorities on a pursuit, crashing the car into two other vehicles and then fighting deputies. OCSO spokesman Jeff Williamson said that during the fight, Botta was completely unaffected by being shocked by a stun gun twice.
Five people were reportedly injured from the incident, some severely.
Deputies said Botta has been arrested by OCSO before. Williamson said the Sheriff's Office is now charging him with armed burglary, criminal mischief, grand theft of a vehicle, carjacking with a firearm, battery on law enforcement officer, resisting officer with violence and aggravated battery. More charges could also come from the Florida Highway Patrol and the Apopka Police Department, which are also handling parts of the case.
Williamson said the carjacking occurred Sunday morning when a pickup truck crashed into a marked Orange County Sheriff's Office patrol car on Overland Road near Apopka. The area is considered unincorporated Orange County.
The crash wasn't Botta's first encounter with law enforcement that day, Williamson said.
Deputies were called to a home on the 6000 block of Summit Drive at 7:30 a.m. Sunday on a report of a person in mental distress, Williamson said. He said that at the residence, they found Botta holding a knife to his throat.
When one of the responding deputies drew his firearm, Botta ran back into his house, then escaped through another door into a wooded area that neighbors the home, according to Williamson. Authorities searched those woods and could not find him.
According to Williamson, while deputies were searching, Botta stole the pickup truck from a nearby business and then got onto Overland Road. The FHP crash report states he then lost control of the truck while trying to make a left turn and crashed into the deputy's parked car. The deputy did not initially realize who the man was.
"The deputy gets out, he's dazed, thinking it's a civilian, he's trying to render aid to a civilian who may have gotten into an accident with him, not knowing that it is indeed the subject who we had approached at the house who had a knife to his own throat," Williamson said.
After "struggling" with the deputy, Botta got into the damaged patrol car and sped off, Williamson said.
That deputy was taken to the hospital with severe neck injuries.
Joel Weber, who lives in a neighborhood near the initial crash site, said he heard a loud crash early Sunday morning.
"It sounded like a vehicle hitting another vehicle, or a vehicle hitting something, but then I heard another car squeal off," Weber said. "I didn't know what was going on, I didn't get up to see what was going on. That happens around here quite often."
Authorities eventually located the vehicle off of Sheeler Avenue, near State Road 436.
They engaged Botta in what Williamson called a "high-speed pursuit" for 2 miles, during which the patrol car's emergency lights were on. Williamson said during the pursuit, Botta crashed the patrol car into a van and a car on Park Avenue and First Street.
Williamson said when the patrol vehicle then stopped running because of all the damage it had sustained, the man exited the car.
"He gets out, we get out of our vehicles, the fight is on," Williamson said.
Williamson said the suspect fought with two deputies, who eventually deployed their Tasers to no avail. Williamson said it took four or five deputies to eventually subdue Botta.
One of the deputies who fought with Botta was taken to the hospital with a possible broken leg, and another was taken for treatment of a back injury. Both have since been released.
The civilian in the car suffered what Williamson called "significant but not fatal injuries," while the civilian in the van was not injured as severely. Both were also taken to the hospital.
"Fortunately, no one was killed in this particular incident," Williamson said. "We're very fortunate we're not looking at fatalities due to the high rate of speed and the danger of this situation."
The fact that Botta was unfazed by being stunned twice alerted deputies that he may have been under the influence, according to Williamson.
"Tasing isn't something even the biggest of normal humans can fight off, and on this person it had absolutely no effect," he said.
Even Weber, who has lived in the area for 25 years, was struck by the scale of what happened.
"I've seen it all the time," Weber said. "They drive like crazy down through here. But to hear a cruiser was involved, that's a different story."
After being taken into custody, Botta was taken to an area hospital. Deputies said he was released Sunday night and booked into the Orange County Jail .
This is a developing story. Stay with News 6/ClickOrlando for updates.