MELBOURNE, Fla. – Two drivers were “actively striking each other’s vehicles” Thursday afternoon in Melbourne, leading to a crash with a third vehicle that left at least three people injured, police said.
The incident was first reported around 5:30 p.m. at North Wickham Road and Parkway Drive.
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Melbourne police said it received two calls about a red Ford and a black Mercury sedan driving recklessly in the area of Lake Washington and Stuart roads and “actively striking each other’s vehicles.”
Officers said they saw the Ford driving into oncoming traffic and intentionally ramming the black Mercury sedan. Police attempted to make a traffic stop.
The Ford drove off, but the driver of the black car stopped, said police. The officers determined the driver is a domestic violence victim.
Police said the victim told them she had gotten into a physical fight with the driver of the Ford, Dominique Scott.
The woman said she had been looking for him and spotted his car in the area of Eau Gallie Boulevard and Wickham Road, pulled up alongside him and asked him to pull over, records show. Scott then turned his car into hers and drove off, but the woman caught up with him on a side street off Aurora Road, according to investigators.
This is where the two got out of their cars and got into a brawl before getting back in their cars, which is when police said they first encountered the cars.
Another officer saw the Ford and attempted to pull the vehicle over, but the driver again took off, police said. The car ran a red light and was struck by another car at the intersection of Parkway Drive and Wickham Road.
Scott, a female passenger and a child were in the Ford and all three were thrown from the vehicle, police said. Investigators said the child was sitting in a woman’s lap in the front seat without a seatbelt. The child was flown to the hospital as a trauma alert.
Police have not said whether Scott or the woman suffered any injuries.
Investigators said the Ford Scott was driving was stolen.
Photos of the scene shared on Facebook by Melbourne Professional Firefighters Local 1951 show the crash left two cars badly damaged, and a Facebook post said three adults and one child were injured.
Scott faces charges of aggravated battery with a motor vehicle, battery with one prior conviction, aggravated child abuse, driving with a permanently revoked license, aggravated fleeing, reckless driving resulting in serious bodily injury and grand theft of a motorvehicle.