ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Four men face charges of grand theft and more after attempting to escape Florida Highway Patrol troopers at high speeds Sunday, leading law enforcement on a pursuit through multiple counties.
FHP’s report begins with a call for service that a trooper received from a Volusia County deputy around 10:45 p.m., broadcasting an SUV reported stolen had fled the deputy in their attempt to stop it.
The responding trooper traveled from Seminole County to Orlando and located the SUV on an Interstate 4 exit ramp to Anderson Street, the report states. As the trooper attempted to stop the SUV, it drove off westbound on Anderson Street toward Division Avenue before making a U-turn, getting back on Anderson Street and making it to a nearby eastbound I-4 Express entrance.
The pursuit in the I-4 Express lanes — viewable in the video player at the top of this story — spanned from the Anderson Street ramps to I-4′s interchange with State Road 436 in Seminole County, troopers said. During this stretch, the SUV was clocked at speeds exceeding 130 mph, overtaking some vehicles and squeezing between others as its driver used even the paved shoulder and median to keep running, according to FHP.
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Now at SR-436, the SUV made another U-turn and traveled west on I-4 until reaching Maitland Boulevard, where it exited the interstate to travel westbound on the roadway, the report states. Two more U-turns had the SUV go back and forth on Maitland Boulevard before traversing the city of Maitland, blowing through red lights and at one point traveling in the wrong direction at Maitland Boulevard’s intersection with Keller Road, troopers said.
Still traveling at speeds over 100 mph, the SUV crossed the grassy median just west of Magnolia Homes Road to get back on Maitland Boulevard, this time traveling eastbound, according to FHP. As it approached I-4 once again, the SUV came to rest after colliding with a traffic sign and a tree near the entrance ramp, traveling down an embankment on the east side of the ramp and becoming stuck in the mud, troopers said.
The SUV’s four occupants exited the vehicle and ran, pursued on foot by troopers who eventually retrieved them all and handed them over to Orange County deputies, according to the report.
The men — Joshua Cummings, Dwayne Burke, John Nelson and De’Keevis Solomon — were booked at the Orange County jail and face charges of resisting an officer without violence, grand theft of a motor vehicle and wearing a mask or hood on a public way, the report states. Cummings faces additional charges of fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer, reckless driving and driving with a suspended license, records show.
During the foot pursuit, Cummings and Burke were captured first while troopers continued to follow Nelson and Solomon, who had both entered a dugout at Orangewood Christian School’s baseball field, FHP said. The two were apprehended with help from an Orange County Sheriff’s Office K-9 deputy, the report states.
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