By Steven Symes 
A guy driving a Ford Bronco in Citrus County, Florida gave the sheriff’s office a messy situation after he fled from a deputy. Using the off-road capabilities of the rig, plus pushing it to high speeds, he was able to elude capture before the pursuit ended badly as Florida Highway Patrol jumped in.
Florida man tries giving police vodka while leading them on a chase.
According to Citrus County Sheriff’s Office, the whole thing started when a “suspicious person” at a gas station off US-19 in Crystal River. As a deputy spoke with the suspect, the guy suddenly fled in his Ford Bronco, almost hitting several people before jumping the median and taking off “at a high rate of speed.”
The sheriff’s office says a supervisor called off a chase because of “the suspect’s reckless driving” as well as “early morning traffic congestion.” That’s the first point of criticism as some people feel the suspect should’ve been chased and pitted out immediately.
Instead, other deputies spotted the speeding Bronco in different parts of Crystal River. We’re going to go out on a limb here and say even though he wasn’t being chased, the guy probably thought he was. That’s one of many legitimate criticisms of no-chase policies like this.
Still, no pursuit was authorized, until the suspect tried to hit a deputy who was performing a traffic stop that had nothing to do with the erratic Bronco driver. That’s when a chase was approved and deputies started hunting for him.
So let’s get this straight: the guy speeds around the city, putting countless lives at stake, and the sheriff’s office says it’s fine and everything will work out. But the moment he tries mowing down a deputy, that’s when it’s okay to chase the suspect down? Interesting.
The sheriff’s office won’t say what methods it used to try stopping the fleeing suspect, but we know a PIT maneuver wasn’t attempted. A public statement makes general excuses for not doing PITs, but it also mentions Florida Highway Patrol was called for help “due to their specialized training” when it comes to PITs.
In other words, the sheriff’s office, like so many law enforcement agencies, doesn’t really train deputies on pitting out fleeing suspects. Why not just say that? The whole release feels like it was written by a wanna-be attorney just trying to play cover for the law enforcement agency.
Eventually, as FHP troopers were chasing the fleeing Bronco down, the guy wrecked out, ending the pursuit. The fact he hit several other vehicles, injuring other people, is mentioned as briefly as possible.
It’s like the sheriff’s office is trying to skate as quickly as possible over thin ice. We don’t know exactly how many people were injured or the extent of their injuries. But we find it ironic that one of the reasons cited for not attempting a PIT maneuver before was that innocent people could’ve been hurt.
We don’t have the dashcam footage, although maybe it will come out sooner than later, so there’s only so much we know about this chase. But we can see why so many people are critical of how Citrus County Sheriff’s Office handled it, or rather didn’t handle it.
Image via Citrus County Sheriff’s Office/Facebook