JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A young girl and her grandfather were hospitalized Wednesday afternoon after colliding with a car driven by a suspected bank robber, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Cheyenne Meyer, public information officer with the Sheriff’s Office, said that around 4:30 p.m. officers were called to 103rd Street near the intersection of McManus Drive in reference to a bank robbery. She said an armed man entered the bank, brandished a firearm and demanded money from employees, who complied with the man’s demands.
“As the suspect was exiting the bank, patrol officers were arriving on scene, and the suspect entered a vehicle that the patrol officers immediately recognized as a car that had previously been reported stolen earlier in the day,” Meyer said.
She said officers began pursuing the vehicle, which was going in and out of oncoming traffic. She said the driver discharged a firearm at an officer on 103rd Street.
Meyer said the driver struck a pickup truck. Anthony Boyle witnessed the crash.
“Just out of nowhere a white car... it hits a blue truck almost head on,” Boyle said.
Officers blocked the man’s vehicle, and he was apprehended.
The grandfather and granddaughter, who were in the pickup, were taken to a hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening. Their ages were not disclosed, but Meyer said the granddaughter was a minor.
Meyer said an officer and the suspect also had non-life-threatening injuries. No injuries were reported at the bank.
The suspect’s name was not immediately released.