ISLAMORADA, Fla. — A man from an affluent Washington, D.C. suburb is facing a bevy of charges in the Florida Keys after authorities said he led them on a triple-digit chase on U.S. 1 in a rented Range Rover on Tuesday.
Deputies and state troopers said Christopher Brinkley Smithers, 23, of Great Falls, Virginia, crashed into a trailered boat in Islamorada after authorities used a PIT maneuver.
Authorities said the chase began after a Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy stopped Smithers in Key Largo after he nearly sideswiped her and was driving erratically.
Smithers, “wearing dark sunglasses despite the overcast weather, appeared visibly fidgety and restless. He struggled to form coherent sentences and seemed agitated,” the deputy wrote in an MCSO report.
WATCH: Florida Keys chase ends in PIT maneuver
“Throughout the interaction, I repeatedly inquired about any medical issues he might have, as his behavior suggested potential impairment or some underlying condition,” she wrote in the report.
Authorities said just as a backup deputy arrived to perform a field sobriety test, Smithers took off and troopers with the Florida Highway Patrol joined and took over the pursuit, in which speeds reached upwards of 122 mph.
After knocking down several signs, troopers said Smithers slowed down and stopped near Burton Drive in Tavernier, but took off again after they began to exit their cruisers.
Smithers drove “on the shoulder and sidewalk,” an FHP report states.
Amid the chase, troopers said Smithers took a detour through Founders Park in Islamorada in which he crashed into part of a guardhouse complex, losing a tire in the process, before returning to U.S. 1.
The chase ended with a PIT maneuver at mile marker 87 in Islamorada.
According to the FHP report, Smithers, “who had a gaze to his eyes and was acting out of character for someone who had fled and resisted the efforts of law enforcement,” told paramedics and troopers that he had taken 80 mg of Adderall earlier.
After being medically cleared at Baptist Health Mariners Hospital, Smithers was taken to jail, authorities said. A breath test did not reveal any alcohol in his system, but troopers said he provided a urine sample.
As of Wednesday, Smithers, facing charges including fleeing and eluding and driving under the influence, was being held in the MCSO Plantation Key jail facility with no listed bond.
He’s scheduled to be arraigned in a Florida Keys courtroom on Dec. 2.
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