A Florida man driving a stolen vehicle with a missing 15-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy as passengers led Volusia County deputies on a chase early Saturday, which ended when deputies found him hiding in some bushes off I-4 after he bailed out of the car, the sheriff's office said.
Jervaughn Bonner, 26, of Orlando, was driving a stolen car in Daytona Beach around 12:10 a.m. when a license plate reader detected the car, deputies said.
Deputies said they approached the car at a stoplight, telling Bonner to get out of the car with his hands up. They said they did not see the children.
Bonner made eye contact with the deputies and hit the gas, ramming one of the patrol cars before fleeing, deputies said.
Deputies laid out stop sticks, which Bonner hit going at least 80 mph, popping the driver’s side tires, officials said. But Bonner kept going, speeding past I-95, before hitting another set of stop sticks about a half-mile west of Tomoka Farms road, deputies said.
With all his tires deflated, Bonner got onto westbound I-4, hitting a guardrail, before his driver’s side tires completely disintegrated and the wheel began throwing sparks, deputies said.
Bonner eventually pulled onto the median, got out of the car and ran. The 15-year-old girl also got out of the car and ran into some bushes before deputies caught up to her and put her in a patrol car.
Deputies sent out a K-9 unit to find Bonner nearby. Bonner sustained a dog bite during his arrest, deputies said.
Bonner is charged with grand theft auto, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, two counts child abuse, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, interference with child custody, driving while license suspended or revoked and resisting an officer without violence, according to jail records.
The 15-year-old was returned to her mother. The 4-year-old, who was found in the front seat without a seat belt or a child restraint seat, was placed in the care of the state Department of Children and Families.
There were no injuries to the children, who were known to Bonner, or any of the deputies involved.
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