ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (WFLA) — A St. Petersburg man was arrested early Thursday morning after hitting multiple vehicles while fleeing from Pinellas County deputies, according to the sheriff’s office.
Deputies tried to stop a reckless, speeding Infiniti Q60S on 33rd Street North, just after 2 a.m., but it sped away, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.
Deputies did not chase the Infiniti, which went on to lose control near the intersection of 58th Avenue North and 28th Street North and hit two parked vehicles. The driver, identified as Rufus Brown Jr., 24, ran away from the area and was later tracked down by a K-9.
Brown’s passenger, Jeremiah Brown, 20, was taken to the hospital with life-threatening injuries. Rufus Brown was transported with minor injuries.
The sheriff’s office said speed and impairment were factors in the crash. Brown was charged with fleeing and eluding, driving under the influence (serious bodily injury), two counts driving under the influence involving property damage, leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury, two counts leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage, resisting an officer without violence, driving while driver’s license suspended/revoked, and violation of probation (felon/delinquent in possession of firearm/ammo).