JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A carjacking suspect who led officers on a multi-county pursuit on Monday night died after crashing into the back of a semi-truck on Interstate 95, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said the carjacking happened at Stephenson Drive and Edgewood Avenue in the Lake Forest area. A source told Action News Jax that a woman in her 70s was driving a man she didn’t know across town when he forced her out of the car.
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The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office asked for the FHP’s assistance in pursuing the suspect. SJSO shared the following information about its involvement in the pursuit:
“The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office RTCC [Real-Time Crime Center] contacted the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office (SJSO) RTIC [Real-Time Intelligence Center] and advised us they had a suspect vehicle hit a LPR [license plate reader] in St. Johns County in the area of I-95 and IGP [International Golf Parkway]. SJSO located the vehicle within minutes. The suspect fled law enforcement and a pursuit ensued into Flagler County.”
Just after the suspect entered into Flagler County on I-95, troopers responded. FHP said this is when the suspect “crashed into the back of a commercial motor vehicle and its trailer.”
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An FHP news release said the semi-truck hauling the trailer was in the middle lane and “traveling at reduced speeds due to heavy traffic.”
FHP said the suspect had been engaging in “erratic driving behavior.”
The sedan being driven by the carjacking suspect “attempted to travel on the inside shoulder” of I-95, but the driver lost control, FHP’s news release said.
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That car then swerved into the middle lane and crashed into the back of the semi-truck.
The FHP news release about the crash identifies the suspect who died as a 30-year-old man from Orlando.
Action News Jax’s Nick Gibson just received the report on the carjacking from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and is going through the details now. He will have updates on CBS47 and FOX30 Action News Jax at 5.
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