High Speed Chase (2023) s02e02 Episode Script

1
got eyes on him.
This was the first time ever
in the history of this area
that we've ever had a vessel pursuit.
A chase with a runaway U-Haul truck.
We deal with people
that are armed all the time.
What are we gonna
do next if it doesn't work?
You never know what
your bad guy is thinking.
He does not wanna be caught by the police
and there's definitely a reason why.
Put your hands up! Put your hands up!
Venice is centered right here
in the middle of Southwest Florida.
We're about an hour south of Tampa
and an hour of north of Fort Myers.
My name is Paul Joyce.
I work for the city of Venice
Police Department
and I work in the Marine division.
Our job is keeping
people safe and educated.
Making sure that they're
aware of the rules on the water.
I received a phone call
from Charlotte County Sheriff's
Marine unit and they advised me
of an incident that had
occurred earlier in the week
where there was some
home burglaries committed
and the suspect had stolen a vessel.
They described the vessel
as a 22-foot Pathfinder
powered by a single engine Yamaha.
About 3:30 in the afternoon,
I noticed a vessel approaching
me from the opposite direction.
And then I looked at the boat.
I'm going, "That looks familiar."
I immediately notified our dispatch,
told him that the vessel of the BOLO
that I received earlier
that day has just passed me.
Within a few seconds, the air unit
had taken off from our local airport
here in Venice and was over top of us.
I immediately broke off,
went to the local marina
and picked up Officer Brooks.
When you're out on
the water by yourself usually,
there's no one that can get
to you if the situation goes wrong.
So to have somebody else
on the boat is essential for our job.
My name's Officer Joshua Brooks.
I'm with the Venice Police
Department and I'm a patrol officer.
He's right over there by the county park.
He's trying to get access to it now.
We'll advice if he gets on land or not.
What's the story on this?
He's not acting like
this is a stolen boat.
He's got a female and a dog on
there, some fishing poles.
Has he been previously identified?
The suspect had stolen a vessel.
And after that, they believe
he came into Charlotte County
and committed some
burglaries from that vessel.
He's identified as
the suspect from the burglaries.
And also the suspect
who stole that vessel.
There's a lot going
through my head at the time.
I don't know who's on the boat.
I don't know if they have
a criminal history
or if they could be dangerous.
You could have knives on board.
Also, you are allowed
to carry a sidearm with you
if you're actively fishing.
All right dispatch, it looks like
the boat is actually fleeing.
He's northbound, headed
off under the Albee Bridge.
So we'll call this and if you
wanna just stay back on him.
We'll keep an eye on.
Looks like he's gonna try
to bail on land somewhere.
We'll let you know when he does.
That's just when my heart skipped
a beat and the adrenaline kicks in.
Dispatch, can we get some other
units? Send them down here.
This was the first time
ever in the history of this area
that we've ever had
a documented vessel pursuit.
So this was all gonna be new
and things are racing
through my head going,
"We gotta make sure that we get this
guy stopped and stopped quickly."
Dispatch, he's approaching marker 15.
I don't know if there will
be other units in the area.
But you may all notify them
and let them know what's goin on.
I was actually
at the North Siesta Key Bridge
when I received a call from dispatch.
I'm Officer Michael Skinner.
I'm with the Sarasota Police
Department Marine Patrol Division.
When I heard Officer Joyce
come over the VHF radio,
I knew that I had to get down there quick.
When I arrived on scene, it was stressful.
You have the 40-mile-an-hour
wind in your ears,
you're listening to the radio.
You have three different
agencies on the channel
and you begin to categorize what is
the outcome of this pursuit gonna be?
Why is the suspect not stopping?
Dispatch Patrol Marine 33
is also on the fourth sign.
Additional backup is very vital
whether it's on land or on the water
because you wanna get
as many officers you can
to get this vessel stopped
as quick as possible.
Standby just a second.
I'm on the camera.
Dispatch, as you wait, inform the EMS
Shortly.
Get any, um, gestures
or anything like that
I had Officer Joyce to my left,
Deputy Adams to my right,
and the helicopter above.
He's got quite a bit of outline there.
He's gonna try to get out of the
We have three law enforcement
vessels pursuing this one vessel.
So now we need to start
coming up with a strategy
of getting this boat to stop.
53 to center, do you have
any heavy line on your boat?
- I got 20 box in.
- He's not stopping.
We can try to get a rope
in front of this guy maybe?
Obviously, we don't have tires on boats,
but what we do have that
controls the boat, uh, is a prop,
and that's what's on
the bottom of a motor.
And once that prop stops,
it stops the boat from going anywhere.
I saw the two officers
on board Officer Joyce's boat
preparing a large ball
of tangled line with floats on it.
They were going to attempt to get
that in front of the suspect's boat
and attempt to foul the propeller
to cause the boat to stall out.
The best-case scenario
is they deploy the prop foul
and this fleeing vessel comes to a stop.
Worst-case scenario,
the prop foul is deployed
and I get entangled in it.
We got into position, Officer
Brooks deployed the mechanism.
It deployed perfectly into the water.
He ran over it, but what we didn't
take in account was our speeds.
Our speeds were greater
than 35 miles an hour.
And when your speeds are
greater than 35 miles per hour,
it raises your boat higher
up out of the water,
so the motors completely missed
the device and drove right over it.
That prop foul ended up
traveling underneath that boat
and came right up in front of me.
I only have seconds to react.
This prop foul gets
caught in my propeller,
then I'm out
of the pursuit. I'm done.
I passed neutral and went into reverse.
I was relieved that
I didn't hit the prop foul
and I restarted my boat
and I got back into the pursuit.
Marine 33, give me a second.
Yo! Slow down!
We tried getting him
to stop with lights and sirens.
He did not comply. He kept going.
Just pull over, man.
Yo! Just back her down!
So we tried pulling up next to him,
yelling at him to stop the boat
Again, he kept going.
Yo. Think about her, think about her.
Think about her.
You'll be fine, bro. Just slow down.
Hey, I'm just saying dude.
You can't outdrive me.
His girlfriend wants
to get out of the boat
Yeah, she wants out.
She's screaming to him several
times and he's not listening to her.
Yeah, I told him he had nowhere to go.
And he's trying to comfort her
cause she wants him to stop.
We tried reasoning with
the female that was on the boat,
trying to get her to talk to him
to get him to stop, he didn't do it.
At those speeds,
you're in an open cockpit,
if you were to strike shallow
water, uh, another vessel,
you're gonna be ejected from that vessel.
The worst-case scenario
is somebody getting hurt,
somebody getting
seriously injured or dying.
Pull over, man!
You're gonna try go up to the bridge
where there's a pinch point
right in the middle
of the channel of the bridge.
The female and the dog are held down
quite below. They're by his feet.
We've trained in ways where we can
come up next to a suspect vessel
and deploy another officer off of our
vessel and onto the suspect vessel.
But the problem we had in this
instance is we had a dog on board.
We don't know what would be
going on through that dog's mind.
We don't know if he's aggressive.
We have to take that in consideration too
'cause it's not just about the safety
of us and the general boaters,
we have to think about
the safety of everyone else too,
including the suspect.
Dispatch we are enroute
to 048, Brooksdale Drive.
Looks like he's about
to try to bail on Pine island.
He just turned around and went
back Westbound again.
With 15 minutes into it,
he began to look around.
Is this gonna come to an end
because he's looking
for a place to ditch the boat.
Is he gonna pull it up on a beach?
Looks like he's headed towards
the Stump Pass area, southbound.
Back there in some of the shallow
areas in the islands.
We start approaching Stump Pass
and it's very shallow in that area.
I'm relying heavily on the
electronics that I have on board,
hoping that the depth
that it's showing me in that area
is consistent with the area that I'm in.
Looks like the BPD boat's back off
'cause they went in to the shallow waters
and the SPD boats is still 10-1 with them.
They're the ones that are
closest to the suspect now.
All right, I'll stand by,
we only have two boats, so
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission,
otherwise known as FWC, works that area.
The FWC boat goes in
and follows the suspect
probably because they're familiar
with the waterways back there.
It's really just mangroves
and water all around them.
And I was very excited that, okay,
this is finally gonna come to an end
and we're gonna catch the guy
and be able to put handcuffs on him.
That area is very mucky and very shallow.
At that point, not being familiar
and seeing how shallow it was,
I backed off a little bit and
pulled alongside Deputy Adams.
He's trying to turn around and
comeback towards you though.
He's in very shallow water.
No, he's still Just trying
to work his way out of it.
It's too shallow for them to get up there,
so he's trudging through it.
But he's trying to get back
towards you guys, so standby.
I knew that this was our opportunity
that the boat's not moving fast.
I'm in a stopped position.
I have another boat next to me.
We can formulate a plan
to get his vessel stopped.
He's moved. Slowly making
his way back towards you guys.
I'll advise when he gets closer.
Hearing the radio traffic that
he's making his way back towards us,
I pulled Deputy Adams,
I have a line on board.
It's not typically made to foul prop,
but this may work. Let's try it.
Throw that here.
You got a hook?
- This might work.
- He's gonna come through here.
We can just pull the line
up enough and then let it go, and
Looks like he's starting
to move a bit faster now. Stand by.
He has moved. Slowly making
his way back towards you guys.
So I sat there like,
"We got him. Just come on out."
Nine-four.
- 10-4, do a 15.
- He's coming back towards
the entrance to that channel
that he went into originally.
And he's back up on plain again.
and realized that
as the sound of the motor
has got further and further that,
"He definitely is not coming
out this way anymore."
He backed out.
He's taken a different
route and we'll scratch this
Scratch this plan.
We're gonna go ahead.
Marine 71 is gonna go ahead
in the 10-56 spot.
Now he's coming back towards me.
He's back northbound to begin
now and actually go to you.
The problem was he's now coming into
a very popular area called Ski Alley.
He's headed towards Ski Alley.
Northbound towards Chadwick.
I thought, "I can predict
this individual's behavior,"
but "Really, what's
he gonna do next?"
Takes a U through Chadwick
over to Back to the ICW.
There was a personal
watercraft, a jet ski in the area.
Worst-case scenario, he doesn't stop
and he finds himself colliding
with another person or vessel.
Let's see if he comes back
again, but they can't get
in these shallow areas
where he's navigating now.
Looks like the Charlotte County
boat is the closest to him.
Anytime you're in a pursuit, you can
get tunnel vision on what's going on.
Yeah, I see him now.
Back out now along the houses.
Looks like he's trying to bail
back in a small marina.
It dawned on me that FWC didn't have
the same communication radios that we had
and they didn't hear
any of this radio traffic.
So that's when I then began
to get back in the pursuit
to catch up to them
to relay this information.
We got you. Just 10-3
for now then. Just stay out there.
Ultimately, we wanna catch
the bad guy. That's the point.
You're thinking,
"What can I do to stop him?"
And you're usually right up on him.
The good thing about
having Air-1 available
was they could see the whole picture.
They had that view from up top.
They could see where he was going
and the direction he was leading us in.
There's only 10 gallons
of fuel on that boat, total.
Air-2 to those boats
that are still in pursuit,
I'm wondering if we can
get them to back off?
They said, uh, back off.
Air-2 is gonna follow them.
Follow on a safe distance.
They want him to run
to a house or something
so they can get him on land.
Air-2 said they want him to go to land.
- Oh, really?
- Yeah. They just said "Back off."
Marine 71 to Air-2.
Air-2, another law enforcement
vessel coming from the south
- Right on. Do you copy?
- Yeah.
Passing Georgia avenue.
Georgia avenue ramp side.
Going southbound against the east shore.
Get trail on Brittany circle
or the closest cross streets.
He's gonna have to end it.
It's gonna be tougher
if he can turn around there. If we
can get units on that direction.
19-48 Massachusetts.
He's on foot bailing and running.
Southbound on land.
Near 31 Massachusetts avenue.
Once he jumped off the boat
and took off on land on foot,
it opens up to a variety
of different avenues now.
You know, does he know the area?
Is he gonna run into someone's home?
You know, so now the whole thing
changes, the whole dynamic changes.
Southbound Waterside drive.
Southbound Waterside drive
I'm on Waterside.
- We gotta bail, like, we're gonna
- 28-31 Waterside drive.
Look to your left, just straight
ahead. Go straight down.
I'm on Waterside.
- 28-50 Waterside headed towards
- Air-1, I'm on foot. Where is he at?
55 Mangrove.
Get in the Mangrove place.
He went to a heavily wooded area.
10-4, I need an update on this channel.
55 Mangrove, please.
1-12, we got him into custody.
We had multiple land units
in the area where we were.
They were all in the right spot.
At the point that the suspect
ran out of the woods
and was greeted
by the Charlotte County Deputies,
he just at that point threw up his arms,
went down on the ground, and just gave up.
Police pursuit on the water
over the weekend.
A boat stolen out of Lee County
leading law enforcement on a pursuit
through Venice and into
Charlotte County waters.
The boat was spotted by Venice Police,
but it took off as Venice PD pursued,
Charlotte County officials
joining in on that chase.
The suspect,
he's seen here, Tristan Royer,
arrested and charged
with grand theft of a motor vehicle.
It's a relief to have him off the water.
Hopefully, he's taken
a motor safety course.
And instead of stealing
a boat, maybe he'll rent one.
Just less risk involved with that, so.
It was a pretty
typical shift. The initial call
was in a neighborhood
called Orange Blossom Hills.
This U-Haul truck had pulled up
in front of somebody's house
and they loaded up a motorcycle
and stole it and took off.
I decided to go look for this truck.
This is a neighborhood
that we're in all the time.
I have worked for the Marion County
Sheriff's Office for 16 years.
I am a corporal assigned to the K9 unit.
Jax is my K9 partner.
We're going 10-15 on him.
I could see the glow of this U-Haul.
When I first saw the truck, I was
like, "Awesome. We got a U-Haul."
But we don't know if it's the U-Haul.
It took off down into that neighborhood
and it actually blacked out.
He knew I was trying
to pull him over from the get go.
Maybe that stolen motorcycle's
in the back of it right now.
It's gonna be a U-Haul. Southbound.
It's probably related
to that motorcycle theft.
When Deputy Batts keyed up on the radio,
at that moment, it's all hands on deck.
We need to get out here and assist.
All right, we're cutting
through the bar parking lot here.
Westbound.
Through this parking lot
Heading towards 42.
When pursuits are initiated, there
is always that adrenaline dump of,
"Hey, this is happening.
We need to get there now."
This truck is a U-Haul moving truck.
It probably stands 12 to 15 foot tall.
There's some weight to it.
For a full-sized
moving truck, this thing was fast.
96-4 northbound, 163rd street.
Driving in a reckless manner like that
through a neighborhood is always a danger,
which is just amplified
by the size of the U-Haul.
I got another patrol here with me now.
Southbound.
You just passed us 92nd
He saw you do south,
and now he's gonna go back north.
Even if it was the middle of the night,
we don't have to worry too much
about people being out and about.
That being said,
this is a commercial vehicle.
Had he lost control of this vehicle,
he could've set this thing
right into someone's living room.
63rd westbound
He knows he's not gonna
be able to outrun a patrol car,
but I think that the driver thought
that maybe he could outdrive me.
Now we're sticking northbound.
10-4, we're going north
I'll give it to him, he could
drive. He could drive that truck.
Westbound in 61st street.
- Dead end.
- Northbound
It turned into a dirtroad.
I've got less clearance in my
vehicle, so he had an advantage
going through there, believe it or not.
Hew cut through this next
neigborhood to the North,
he knows exactly where he's going.
Okay, he just went over a jump.
And we're cutting back southbound,
back to the neighborhood
through the south.
This guy knows this road
and knows exactly where he's going.
That wasn't really even a lime
rock road, it was just a trail.
He just sent it right through there.
Guys, it's gonna be a dual U-Haul.
With this being a dual rear wheel vehicle,
meaning it's got four rear tires
as opposed to two rear tires,
we're not gonna be able to affect
a PIT maneuver on this vehicle.
It simply won't work.
What the patrol guys did, they formed
a box outside of this neighborhood.
They set up Stop Sticks on Highway 42.
So no matter which way he goes,
he's gonna hit these Stop Sticks.
Hitting the road and came back up at 42.
Running eastbound over 25.
Soon as we hit Highway 42,
he started to really ramp up the speed.
Right, he's coming. Here it comes.
It was perfect timing.
We're finally could be able
to stop this big truck,
bring this pursuit to an end.
Losing those back two left tires.
50 miles an hour, he's bound 42.
He's got no tires on the drivers side.
You assume that the vehicle, at that
point, is gonna start to slow down.
But in this case,
the driver did the opposite.
We didn't get all tires,
but three out
of the six tires in the driver side.
Hold on, guys.
I don't want to try to pit him.
It's a dually.
Let's see what happens here.
Come on, bro. Just stop the truck.
Stop the truck.
You got nowhere to go.
I don't know he could hear me
or not, but it was worth a shot.
Just stop the truck, buddy.
You got nowhere to go.
Just pull it over. It's over.
The driver got some
confidence behind the wheel.
He started to push his luck and
he started to push that speed.
We were listening on the radio
and it was obvious that
the vehicle wasn't going to stop.
And we ran out to the helicopter
and got ready to fire it up.
Because when we are requested,
it's generally they need us now.
Still eastbound. Speed's up to 50.
There was only one more red
light that he had to get through,
then from there on out, there
is just not a whole lot out there.
I hope there's nobody else coming
because this guy doesn't wanna stop.
His speed's getting back up again.
He may just lose control.
All right, he's lost all of his tires
on the driver side.
He's on nothing but the rim.
You all just watch out for debris.
His tires or his rims, are
hitting these yellow reflectors
and they're shooting up.
Driving on his rim is even more dangerous.
And how far is Air-1 to me?
Passing 272nd Court, still eastbound.
Passing through 272nd court, eastbound.
In that moment, I felt like
we were kind of at his mercy.
There were no Marion County
deputies to get ahead of his thing.
This is a busy intersection,
major highway, major exchange,
a vehicle of this size
and with no tires underneath,
it's like driving on ice.
So he does not have
any control of this large vehicle
as he's approaching this intersection.
- What speed is he on?
- Uh, 62.
He's been going about 60.
All right, that looked like
a good hit on the sticks.
With that U-Haul falling
apart out from under him,
you're thinking that this
has got to end anytime now.
All right, we're starting
to slow way down here.
All right, slow all
the way down. Stand by.
We've got to make a split second
decision to deploy our dog or not.
Could it be dangerous? Of course.
Could he be armed? Of course.
Stand by.
Wait for the dog!
Air-1, they're bailing on foot.
Stay back, guys! Here! Jax, here!
- Did you all see him?
- No.
Hold them right here,
guys. Jax, here!
The bailout unfortunately didn't work.
Jax never saw the driver bailing on foot.
I did proceed to see if Jax
would just naturally
pick up this driver's odor,
but we're going into super dark woods
and it's never good to just go
running blindly into
the woods after a fugitive,
in case they're setting up an ambush.
Have somebody check the car.
- What do you have?
- Did somebody check the car?
Yeah.
This person has led us
on a very long pursuit.
Obviously, they're
running for some reason.
We don't know what's behind this door.
Show me your hands. Don't move!
Both hands outside.
Open the door from the outside.
Step out.
Step out and face away from me.
- Is there anybody else in there?
- Nobody.
Step out and face away from me.
Face away and back up
to me. Back up. Back up.
And put your hands
on top of your head. Back up.
We got the passenger detained.
At this point, my thought is what
our deputies doing in the woods.
Are they okay?
You know where you're going?
I took four or five deputies
with me into the woods.
I was very grateful the helicopter
was able to get up and get eyes over this.
He's climbing a tree.
Air-1, he's climbed up in a pine tree.
All right Air-1, bring me to him.
Knowing the helicopter
had the individual in sight
was a huge relief.
They're gonna be able
to direct us straight to him.
We're just in the middle
of the national forest,
so we don't know what's up
ahead of us. Is he armed?
All right, I got you. Keep going
straight the way you're going.
He's gonna be above 50, 60 yards then.
Here. Up.
- Straight ahead.
- Where?
- I can't here them.
- Left, left, left.
With us being so far out of county,
the radio reception was spotty.
My radio really wasn't working at all
so I was having to rely on other deputies
to tell me what the helicopter was saying.
He jumped down of the
tree. He started moving.
He's going away from you,
further into the woods.
I am on him like ants on honey.
I am there. I am on him.
I'm not letting him go.
Here, straight ahead.
Straight ahead.
Here.
Jax, here! Stay back.
Sheriff's office, you're under arrest!
He's about ten yards.
You're right there in the area.
To your right. He looks like
he's on the base of a tree.
Here!
- Hey!
- Show me your hands!
- Let me see him.
- Show me your hands!
Turn around. Turn around,
come back this way.
Put your hands up!
He had a weird look on his face.
I could not see his hands and
I was starting to get concerned.
Okay, this guy may have a weapon on him.
- Don't fight the dog.
- Please, get the dog off me.
- Please, get the dog off me.
- Cuffs.
Please, can you get the dog
off me? Please. The dog?
I got one in. I got one in.
- Don't fight the dog!
- I'm not!
Okay, please, get the dog off me.
Stop. Once you get
handcuffs, he'll come off!
- All right. He's in.
- Stand up.
Finally. It was a sigh of relief.
Okay. We got
this guy in handcuffs.
We're done. We're clear.
And happy that we caught our guy.
Have a seat. Get in the car.
- Can I at least get my
- No. Get in the car. Now.
Move your hands.
Well, good job.
We were able to respond very
well to this incident as an agency.
But it's not every day that
somebody takes a U-Haul box
and leads us on a miles long pursuit.
Do we believe it was them that stole
this motorcycle to begin with?
Absolutely. Unfortunately,
the bike was not
in the back of the U-Haul
in that timeframe.
They could've already
gotten rid of the bike.
You got anything on your pockets?
- You got a warrant?
- You got a warrant, I know that.
- What you got in here?
- What?
- What is this in your pockets?
- Nothing. I don't know. Honestly.
- Yeah, we're taking this.
- Straight ahead. Straight ahead.
I immediately recognized
the thing with Skylar Adkins
from prior dealings with him
both inside the jail and on patrol.
So, I knew who he was and
I knew he have an active warrant.
He was detained and placed
in the back on the patrol car
while his warrant was being confirmed.
- This was on his pocket?
- Yeah.
He's also got a warrant, Skylar Adkins.
After his warrant was confirmed
he was placed under arrest.
A search of his person yielded narcotics
that he had been concealing on his person.
Marion County Sheriff's deputies
are showing us video of a chase
with a runaway U-Haul truck.
On June 18th,
deputy spotted the U-Haul truck
matching a description
of one used to steal a motorcycle.
The driver, 34-year-old Delvin Mark Brown,
and a passenger,
26-year-old Skylar Adkins,
were arrested on theft and drug charges.
I didn't expect this.
This was the longest pursuit
that I've been involved in.
That's what I like most about my job
is just you never know
what each shift is gonna bring.