Several law enforcement agencies followed a 47-year-old convicted felon who was released from prison in November as he drove through stop signs and red lights before colliding on Saturday in Miami-Dade County, according to police.
On Saturday, Miami police detectives identified Steven Moss as a suspect in a crime. Since 2000, Moss has frequently been incarcerated and has a history of grand theft auto offenses dating back to 1998.
Deputies in a Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office helicopter joined the pursuit of Moss’ white Toyota sedan when an Opa-locka police officer noticed him speeding on Opa-locka Boulevard, according to authorities.
Moss stopped at a gas station before making “an abrupt U-turn” onto Northwest 27th Avenue northbound and colliding with cars waiting at a red light, according to an Opa-locka police officer’s report.
“I drove my vehicle in front of it, attempting to block it,” the police officer wrote.
Moss then “reversed the vehicle … drove over a cement divider” at the entrance of a gas station and “intentionally rammed” into marked patrol cars, according to the police report.
Moss managed to return southbound on Northwest 27th Avenue and continue driving on the car’s rim when the front passenger-side tire blew out, according to police.
According to a police arrest report, the Toyota came to a sudden halt on Opa-locka Boulevard near Northwest Eighth Avenue when the rim failed.
According to records, Opa-locka police officers arrested Moss as well as Ajna Richardson, a second suspect who was a passenger in the white Toyota.
An elderly woman in the rear seat complained of chest trouble, according to authorities. Police said she owned the Toyota that Moss was driving.
According to county jail records, corrections booked Moss and Richardson, both 23, early Sunday morning at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
Moss faced 65 counts in three pending cases and two warrant cases for reckless driving and driving without a license, according to documents.
According to court documents, prosecutors filed a case against Moss with the Opa-locka Police Department on Sunday for felony aggravated fleeing or eluding a police officer and 62 counts of misdemeanor petit theft.
According to court documents, prosecutors filed two Miami Police Department cases against Moss on Monday, each charging him with petit theft.
According to records, prosecutors filed a complaint against Richardson with the Opa-locka Police Department on Monday, charging him with 62 counts of petit theft.
Richardson also had an outstanding warrant case with the North Miami Police Department for another petty theft case earlier this year, according to documents.
Court records show that Miami-Dade County Circuit Judges Christopher Benjamin and Carlos Gamez presided over the cases against Moss. Circuit Judge Marcus Bach Armas presided over the cases against Richardson.
Opa-locka police officers and an M-DCSO aircraft were also involved in a pursuit of a stolen car on Sunday, when the driver was identified as Walisha Wadley of Miami Gardens, according to documents.