MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - A man who attempted to flee from officers during a traffic stop in South Beach was caught and cuffed with some high-tech help, police said.
Cellphone video captured two Miami Beach Police officers who, investigators said, had pulled over the driver of a black Dodge Durango along the 1000 block of Ocean Drive, at around 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Police said the officers had stopped the vehicle due to illegal window tint.
Moments later, the driver sped off, at one point swerving through the busy street and narrowly missing pedestrians along the crowded sidewalk.
“Had it not been for the swift thinking of our officers, innocent pedestrians could have been killed,” said Miami Beach Police Officer Christopher Bess.
Police officers launched a drone to track the suspect from above in real time. Drone video captured the moment when the suspect, identified as Jirell Tremon Thomas, bailed from the SUV and took off running.
“The subject had no idea the drone was overhead. He ditched a firearm, walked very casually before our detectives took him down,” said Bess.
Surveillance and body camera video captured officers moving in on Thomas with guns drawn along Eighth Street. He was taken into custody moments later.
Police said officers later recovered the handgun that the suspect had tossed into the bushes, a firearm that Thomas, a convicted felon, was never supposed to have.
“This offender not only was armed, he was a convicted felon, had a long history from Minnesota, and he thought that he could do the same thing in our city, and he found out that was not the case,” said Bess.
As spring break brings bigger crowds to South Beach, police said they’re watching from every angle, even from above.
“Arrests are down about 21% compared to last year — and it’s all about fitness, Wodapalooza is going well — but that does not mean we’re letting our guard down,” said Bess, “and anyone, such as this offender, who thinks that they can get away with crime or get away from our officers needs to think again.”
Thomas faces a list charges, including fleeing, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and resisting an officer without violence. He remains behind bars.
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