Atmore man jailed after FHP pursuit ends in crash
By DON FLETCHER
News Staff Writer
An Atmore man was arrested September 7 for driving under the influence and two felony charges after he led Escambia County, Fla. deputies and a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) officer on a high-speed chase that ended when a maneuver by troopers caused him to lose control and crash the SUV he was driving.
Escambia County Jail records show that 34-year-old Derek Michael Coleman of a McRae Street address remained in the Pensacola facility early Tuesday, September 10.
He is being held under total bonds of $11,000 on one count each of DUI ($1,000), felony fleeing and eluding ($5,000) and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon ($5,000).
According to FHP reports, a trooper on routine patrol observed a 2013 Chevrolet Tahoe “fleeing from two marked Escambia County (Fla.) sheriff’s deputies” around 11 p.m. A quick check with dispatchers revealed that the SUV’s driver was reportedly “driving recklessly, driving the wrong way against traffic and possible DUI.”
The county officers pulled into the outside lane to allow the trooper to take the lead and utilize a maneuver called PIT (precision immobilization technique), which entails a law enforcement officer using his vehicle to make “gentle” contact with the rear of the vehicle being pursued, then “steer sharply” into it and force it into a “sweeping arc.”
Once the maneuver was completed by the pursuing trooper, Coleman’s vehicle “rotated counterclockwise into the median and overturned twice” before coming to rest on its roof near U.S. 29’s intersection with Molino Road.
Coleman was taken by ambulance to Baptist Hospital, where he was treated for minor injuries, then released to lawmen, who booked him into the jail at 3:33 a.m. The Atmore man was also cited for violation of the state’s open container statutes.