Car Chase Ends In Lakeland Man's Capture By FHP Troopers

LAKELAND, FL — Florida Highway Patrol arrested a 38-year-old Lakeland man after a car chase that led to the suspect running from troopers, according to a news release.

Early Monday morning, a trooper noticed a Chevrolet whose driver appeared intoxicated based on his driving. When the trooper tried to pull him over, he sped away and the officer chased him along State Road 35, Florida Highway Patrol said. The Chevrolet eventually hit a curb and a raised concrete median near Griffin Road that damaged the tires. The suspect got out of his vehicle and ran across a nearby parking lot, and troopers caught up with him and arrested him.

Florida Highway Patrol said the driver is a habitual traffic offender, and several drugs and drug paraphernalia were found in the vehicle. Officials said they found several bags of commercially produced medical marijuana, several pills suspected to be MDMA (methylenedioxy-methamphetamine), a scale, sandwich bags, other packaged marijuana and paraphernalia.

These charges are pending against the driver, the report said:

• Fleeing to elude
• Leaving the scene of a crash with property damage
• DUI
• DWLS (Driving while license suspended) (Habitual)
• Resisting without violence
• Possession of controlled substance
• Possession of paraphernalia
• Destruction of evidence

Note: The Florida Highway Patrol will no longer release the names of those involved in accidents due to Marsy's Law, a law intended to protect the identities of crime victims, approved by 61 percent of Florida voters on Nov. 6, 2018.