Video shows dramatic crash after suspect gets stuck in loop of Florida cul-de-sacs
A “freaked out” burglary suspect stuck in a Florida subdivision full of cul-de-sacs resorted to violently crashing his car rather than surrendering, video shows.
The man and his passenger survived the high-speed crash but ended up in a hospital, the Polk County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
It happened Monday, Nov. 13, in the Preservation Pointe neighborhood, which includes four cul-de-sacs, a loop and a dead-end road, maps show. The neighborhood is in Davenport, about 35 miles southwest of Orlando.
Deputies were called to the area around 3:30 a.m. about a car burglary, officials said.
“Two suspects ... were seen attempting to get into multiple vehicles in the neighborhood,” the sheriff’s office said.
“After the suspect’s white 2006 Cadillac CTS was spotted by a deputy, a traffic stop was attempted, but the Cadillac sped away into the neighborhood. The deputy did not pursue due to there being only one way in and out of the subdivision.”
Deputies blocked the only exit out of the neighborhood and awaited the inevitable return of the car, video shows.
“While speeding through the streets, the suspects sped past one deputy, turned around and sped back down the same street while trying to find a way out,” the sheriff’s office said.
“The attempt to flee ended abruptly when the Cadillac slammed into a parked and unoccupied vehicle.”
Video shows the impact was powerful enough to knock the parked car to the other side of the road, where it collided with another parked car. The suspect’s disabled vehicle then rolled to a stop in the middle of a three-way intersection, video shows.
“Deputies immediately pulled the two suspects out of the disabled Cadillac, got them secured, and requested emergency medical services to treat the injured suspects,” the sheriff’s office said.
The driver was identified as a 37-year old Apopka man, and his passenger was a 31-year-old woman from Ocoee, officials said. The passenger “remains hospitalized after suffering a fractured leg in the crash,” deputies said.
“After being treated and released from the hospital, (the driver) said that he fled because he, ‘just freaked out,’” the sheriff’s office said.
The driver has been charged with:
- Four counts of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance with enhancement of crossing county lines
- Three counts of felony petit theft
- Three counts of fleeing to elude
- Conspiracy to commit burglary
- Possession of methamphetamine
- Possession of marijuana less than 20g
- Possession of drug paraphernalia
- Resisting without violence
This story was originally published November 14, 2023 at 12:34 PM with the headline "Video shows dramatic crash after suspect gets stuck in loop of Florida cul-de-sacs."