NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office on Friday released dramatic videos that showed a high-speed chase that ended in a violent crash on State Road A1A in November.
The chase started after deputies were called to check out reports of four people stealing merchandise from a Khol’s department store on State Road 200 in Yulee.
The video showed the suspects take off and weave in and out of traffic as a deputy followed with their lights on. The driver of the suspects’ car eventually crossed the median and slammed into another car head-on.
A deputy was heard trying to calm down the driver who was hit in the body camera video. That driver suffered serious injuries.
Meanwhile, deputies were also trying to get help for the four theft suspects in the other car. They were trapped and at one point a deputy broke a window in an attempt to get the car door open. All four people were taken to the hospital. They face various charges including felony retail theft and aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer.
Inside the trunk of the car involved in the crash deputies said they found $1,800 worth of clothing, many of the items with tags still on it.
Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said in a statement that the forceful assault of a deputy by one of the suspects is what led to the pursuit.
Leeper made clear that it is not under the Sheriff’s Office’s policy to actively pursue a suspect “just for a property crime or for retail theft due to the inherent danger to the public.”
In a statement, Leeper said a deputy saw a crime happening at the store. The deputy approached the suspects as they were leaving the store and when the suspects reversed their vehicle, they slammed into the front of the deputy’s patrol vehicle. The deputy then, Leeper said, exited his vehicle to peacefully arrest the suspects.
Leeper said the suspects intentionally attempted to strike the deputy with their vehicle.