A 42-year-old North Carolina fugitive was caught in Florida, where he was living in the woods and posing as a homeless person, deputies said.
Damon Kennedy was arrested last week outside a Checkers on International Speedway Boulevard in Daytona Beach, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office said.
He was wanted in connection with a June 29 incident in Havelock, North Carolina, more than 600 miles from where he was found in Florida, investigators said.
On June 29, Kennedy led police on a two-county pursuit after he was found driving a stolen SUV. He initially pulled over before speeding away from North Carolina police, deputies said.
During the chase, a passenger in the front seat jumped out of the moving vehicle but was not seriously injured, investigators said. Two other people in the vehicle were let out at some point during the pursuit.
Kennedy is accused of ramming two law enforcement vehicles before bailing from the stolen SUV and escaping on foot, according to VCSO.
Kennedy has an extensive violent criminal history and was considered extremely dangerous, deputies said. He was also wanted in South Carolina and Tennessee.
Deputies were tipped off to Kennedy's location in Daytona Beach after he was seen living in the woods.
In North Carolina, Kennedy faces charges of fleeing to elude arrest, resisting an officer, assault with a deadly weapon, hit and run, assaulting a government official, damage to property, possession of stolen goods and reckless driving.
He was being held at the Volusia County Jail pending extradition to North Carolina.
No information was available on how long he had been living in Daytona Beach or how he got there.
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