OCALA, FL (352today.com) – Deputies with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) arrested a driver following a high-intensity, high-speed pursuit.
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The chase started on the night of Nov. 26, when an MCSO deputy observed a truck traveling 71 mph in a 45 mph zone on Southeast 58th Ave. near Larch Rd.
The deputy, who was stationary, made a U-turn to track down and pull over the driver.
“Is he taking off?” said the deputy as the truck began to take off. The deputy’s car engine roared as he flicked on his emergency lights.
The footage then cuts to a neighboring deputy who had just arrived on the scene and was close to the suspect’s tail.
The driver, later identified as 19-year-old Johnathan Leon Brooks, surpassed speeds of 100 mph as he turned right onto South Highway 441 to elude the oncoming deputies.
Brooks continued to lead deputies on a chase for several more miles, exceeding speeds of 115 mph.
As Brooks approached an intersection of Southeast 110th St. at a high rate of speed, his night was about to get much worse. The straight road he was driving on had stopped, making way for a perpendicular road. Unable to stop, deputies say that Brooks’ truck then jumped over the intersection and slammed head-on into a tree, immediately immobilizing the vehicle.
“Put your hands out the door, now!” MCSO deputies shouted as they approached the truck with guns in their hands. Deputies learned through talking with Brooks that a passenger was in the truck alongside him. They were both injured when deputies extricated them from the truck and transported them to a local hospital. Both Brooks and the passenger in the vehicle survived the crash.
Driver
Brooks was brought into the Marion County Jail following his hospital visit.
Deputies charged the 19-year-old with Fleeing to Elude a Law Enforcement Officer with Disregard for Safety Causing Serious Injury, a felony offense.
The MCSO inmate search says Brooks is currently out on a $15,000 bond as of Nov. 29.
He has a court date scheduled for Dec. 31 at 9 a.m.