A routine traffic stop over a missing license plate turned into a sprawling, multi-road pursuit through Columbia County early Sunday, ending with a Sarasota motorcyclist boxed in by patrol cars and hauled off in handcuffs. The rider, identified as 32-year-old Darrell Denver Horne, was already a habitual traffic offender on active probation when he allegedly hit speeds topping 120 mph trying to outrun deputies.
According to the WJXT News4JAX report on the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office account, a deputy first noticed the motorcycle exiting one motel parking lot along US-90 and entering another, with no visible license plate, on Sept. 27. When the deputy tried to initiate a stop given the missing tag and the suspicious late-hour activity, the driver refused to pull over and instead fled south on I-75, reportedly hitting speeds exceeding 120 mph. The deputy eventually lost sight of the bike, ending that first attempt.
The chase wasn’t over. A CCSO sergeant soon spotted what appeared to be the same motorcycle passing him on SR-47 near Clay Electric, where radar clocked it accelerating to 75 mph. From there, a third deputy located the bike again, this time traveling east on SE Baya Drive and south on SE Country Club Road, where radar recorded it at 116 mph. The motorcycle then slowed near CR-133C, turned west, and continued south on US-41 before deputies coordinated a tactical maneuver, positioning patrol vehicles to box the bike in without a crash, per the sheriff’s office account relayed by News4JAX.
Backpack Pipe and a Lengthy Rap Sheet
Once deputies pulled Horne from the motorcycle and placed him under arrest, they say they found a methamphetamine pipe in his backpack. Court records cited by Mainstreet Daily News show Horne had already accumulated 32 prior convictions in Florida — 16 felony and 16 misdemeanor — mostly tied to theft or burglary, and he was actively serving probation out of Sarasota County for possession of burglary tools at the time of the pursuit…