Early this morning, police began following a car on I-95 that matched the description of a vehicle used in an armed robbery at a Biscayne Boulevard Starbucks earlier this morning.
Upon realizing that he was being followed, the suspect immediately began to speed up in an attempt to evade the police.
The chase, which reached high speeds, went from I-95 to the Turnpike, ending when the accused crashed his car near the on-ramp.
The accused then got out of his car and ran.
The man ran through a Miami Gardens neighborhood. He came across a woman getting into her car near NW 175th Street. The man then got into the woman’s car but then got back out, running across the street and through the neighborhood.
Police eventually caught the man and took him into custody.
The suspect will face a number of serious felony charges. First and foremost, the accused will be charged with armed robbery with a firearm for the Starbucks robbery. Armed robbery with a firearm is a life felony in Florida.
Secondly, the accused will face charges of aggravated fleeing and eluding, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in state prison.
Aggravated fleeing and eluding, as opposed to fleeing and eluding, can be charged when a suspect flees police in a vehicle at a high rate of speed when the police vehicles are displaying police insignia and lights and sirens.
Also, for getting inside of the woman’s car, he could face charges of burglary of an unoccupied conveyance. He may also face the misdemeanor charge of resisting an officer without violence for running from officers on foot.
Fleeing and eluding carries a mandatory adjudication (conviction) as well as a mandatory one-year driver’s license suspension.
If you are charged with fleeing and eluding in Miami or Broward County, it is important to speak with a criminal defense attorney who represents clients charged with fleeing and eluding and aggravated fleeing and eluding due to the harsh mandatory penalties required by Florida law.