The euphemism You can run but you can’t hide! came to life, once again, when a youngster operating a “crotch rocket” motorcycle bearing a counterfeit license plate “WILL RUN” illustrated reckless behavior and lived up to his brazen advertisement by…running from the police.
Little did he know the sheriff’s office eye-in-the-sky aviators safely tracked him from above in a helicopter, directing ground units to his every move, spanning multiple law enforcement jurisdictions in a few counties in Florida.
At one point in the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) footage, you can hear the helicopter pilots tell public safety dispatchers and others involved in the chase that “he is matching our speed now” at roughly 130mph and “pulling away from us.”
“A motorcyclist with an invalid ‘WILL RUN’ license plate who fled from deputies and hit an estimated 145 mph on I-4 was arrested in Sanford after Air One and Alert One tracked him from the sky,” a sheriff’s office bulletin explained.
Taunting Police
From the get-go, the motorcyclist did what many moronic motorists do: they wait until the law enforcement officer gets out of their cruiser (or off their motorcycle if it is a Traffic Division unit) and jettison when the cop is quite close to making contact. Gives the offender the jump, especially an absconder driving a motorcycle at uber-high velocity.
According to a Volusion County S.O. spokesperson: “Jarvis taunted and fled from Port Orange PD, New Smyrna PD, Ormond Beach PD, Edgewater PD, South Daytona PD, and VSO deputies. Participating law enforcement agencies did not engage in any pursuits, instead calling in Air One to respond, follow, and help protect the public from the reckless behavior on our roads.”
(Screengrab courtesy of the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office.)
Two other law enforcement agencies’ personnel with the Seminole County Sheriff’s Office and the Sanford Police Department were also involved and wound up at the scene when the rocketeer’s run concluded and cuffs were clasped around his wrists.
“Ashtin Jarvis, 19, New Smyrna Beach, was arrested on several charges including fleeing at high speed, reckless driving, and possession of a counterfeit license plate, in addition to traffic violations,” a VCSO post offered.
Nowadays, with all the depth of disrespect and anarchistic behaviors perpetuated by overly liberal political policies such as bail reform and the like, it is not unusual for offenders to flip birds or spew obscenities…or advertise to police what their criminal intentions are.
Any time I was shown the proverbial finger, I smiled…figuring I was doing my job while also practicing deflecting the arrogance of others. That “thick skin” thing is necessarily common in law enforcement.
Having a sense of humor is, too, as exemplified by the neighboring Flagler County Sheriff’s Office whose personnel responded to this caper with, “At least they were honest with y’all!”
Eye-In-the-Sky Chronicles
Besides the sheriff’s helicopter assuming primary duty in calling out the absconder’s direction of travel, police pilots record every action such as how many times the motorcyclist ran red lights, drove recklessly (when the pilot said “He’s Signal-12,” meaning reckless operation), improper lane changes (there were many), cutting off other motorists, and other traffic charges…all adding up to a bevy of traffic citations that will be run by authorities in this young man’s future endeavors.
In Florida, the statewide database known as DAVID (Driver And Vehicle Information Database) is real-time accessible to law enforcement officers’ in-car laptops, enabling cops on stops to ascertain a motorist’s history of operating vehicles. (Not entirely, only when they are caught by cops.)
DAVID “is a multifaceted database that affords immediate retrieval of driver and motor vehicle information that is indispensable for law enforcement and criminal justice officials. DAVID is the primary reporting mechanism for Fatalities and Serious Bodily Injury (FSBI),” explained the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles website.
His insurance company will likely drop him, too, since he is a self-proclaimed liability. That’s assuming he even bothered to take out a policy.
In all of this, besides the deputy initiating the traffic stop whose body-worn camera footage is now evidence, the reel of play-by-play actions undertaken by the motorcyclist will also go against him in a court of law (assuming his defense attorney decides to go before a judge and attempts to downplay the entire reckless ordeal and the fake tag).
It seems that this guy’s senses may have finally kicked in, compelling him to just pull over and surrender. As a deputy can be heard addressing the motorcyclist being arrested, “Oh, man, was that sh!t fun?” The youngster’s reply, “No, not really.”
Lesson learned? We shall see…
Ultimately, this event, primarily relying on police pilots to track fugitives and coordinate law enforcement resources on the ground is the safest bet to safeguard innocent citizenry from potential harm caused by someone fleeing cops.