Felons fleeing from local law enforcement were apprehended when they crashed on a dead-end street in Central Florida.
According to police, a car that was recently apprehended in southeast Winter Haven after colliding with a dead-end street escaped officers in Auburndale and Lake Wales.
Related posts
Lake Wales Police apprehended the black Nissan Rogue after it evaded a traffic stop by the Auburndale Police. They also tried a traffic stop, but the Nissan Rogue raced away.
Local law enforcement reported that the Nissan driver had engaged in irresponsible behavior, making pursuit too unsafe.
Meanwhile, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office Aviation squad was monitoring the Nissan from above, waiting for the perfect moment to act.
That opportunity arose when the Nissan turned into Eloise Oak Drive, a dead-end street.
Aviation alerted patrol units from the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, who closed the exit. When the Nissan driver realized the street was a dead end, he turned around and attempted to make for the exit, but the patrol cars were blocking his path.
The driver put the car into reverse, backed up swiftly, and lost control of it. The Nissan hit two mailboxes and a palm tree.
The occupants got out of the automobile and fled on foot. They broke a fence while attempting to jump over it, and the two were apprehended in a cow pasture.
Deputies found several packages of marijuana and around $1,600 in cash.
The driver, Donald Gatlin III of Lake Wales, was 23 years old. His passenger was Alarion Herring, a 23-year-old from Lake Wales.
Donald Gatlin was charged with occupied unarmed burglary, fleeing/eluding LEO, KDWLSR, leaving the scene of a crash (x2), resistance without violence, trespassing farmland with cattle, and breaking a fence with calves inside.
Alarion Herring was charged with unarmed burglary, resisting without violence, trespassing on farmland with cattle, and breaking a fence with calves inside.
The PCSO was expecting to file further narcotics charges, as well as charges from the Lake Wales Police Department.
