Hit-And-Run Pursuit Ends in McDonald's Drive-Thru

LECANTO, FL – A 26-year-old Holder man is in hot water after Citrus County Sheriff’s deputies say he fled one crash, led officers on a high-speed chase and smashed into four more vehicles before being brought into custody in a McDonald’s drive-thru.

According to the sheriff’s office, the incident began to unfold around 12:40 p.m. Tuesday when a call came in about a hit-and-run crash near the intersection of Grover Cleveland Boulevard and County Road 491. When deputies responded to the scene, they spotted a car leaving. The car happened to match the description of one of the vehicles involved in the crash, so deputies gave chase.

Deputies followed the car on Grover Cleveland Boulevard and tailed it as it turned around in a driveway and, sped back down Grover Cleveland in the opposite direction before turning onto County Road 491.

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Realizing the driver was digging in for a long chase, deputies deployed stop sticks. The sticks worked to blow out the front right tire, but the vehicle didn’t stop. The driver continued on Country Road 491 with deputies hot on his tail, an email from the agency stated.

The chase finally came to an end when the driver pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot at the corner of County Road 486 and 491, the sheriff’s office said. The man managed to smack into four cars in the drive-thru before coming to a final stop.

At that point, “deputies were able to approach the vehicle and grab the subject out through the window,” the email said.

Stephen Mansfield now faces four counts of aggravated battery, DUI, fleeing and eluding and two counts of hit-and-run, the sheriff’s office email said. He was also wanted by the Florida Highway Patrol in connection with another hit-and-run that occurred earlier in the morning. Details about that incident are not readily available.

Photo courtesy of the Citrus County Sheriff’s Office