NORTH MIAMI, Fla. — Two men were taken into custody Saturday morning after a police pursuit that began in Miami Beach and ended in a crash in North Miami, authorities confirmed.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Miami Beach police officers initially tried to stop a blue Mercedes SUV, but the driver fled westbound on the Dolphin Expressway just after 7 p.m. Friday.
Hours later, a be-on-the-lookout alert was issued. Police spotted the SUV again on Ocean Drive, where the driver abruptly veered into a bike lane in an apparent attempt to evade officers.
FHP officials said troopers later intercepted the vehicle on Interstate 95. They confirmed that the SUV exited at Northwest 119th Street, where it crashed into another vehicle but continued fleeing.
Authorities said the pursuit ended when troopers performed a PIT maneuver on Northwest Seventh Avenue near Northwest 129th Street.
Authorities later righted the vehicle and loaded it onto a tow truck as crews worked to clear the scene.
The crash caused significant backups in the area, though traffic was moving slowly again as of early Saturday morning. Drivers were urged to consider alternate routes, including U.S. 1 and State Road 441.
Both occupants were taken into custody without further incident, and a gun was recovered from the vehicle, according to investigators.
During the pursuit, a trooper discharged a gun toward the SUV, but no one was struck and the vehicle was not hit, according to FHP.
Jail records obtained by Local 10 News lists one of the suspects as 24-year-old Tavaris Laughvon Palacios, of Fort Lauderdale.
Records show he is facing two counts of fleeing or eluding a police officer, and one count each of aggravated fleeing or eluding after a crash, leaving the scene of a crash with no serious injuries, reckless driving, failure to obey a law enforcement officer and no valid driver’s license.
According to an arrest report, Palacios has an “extensive criminal history” of felony and misdemeanor offenses in Miami Beach, which led to his license being revoked.
Police also noted in the report that the incident occurred “during a high-impact weekend in the city of Miami Beach, with a significant increase in visitors due to spring break activities and special events.”
They said there was a “large volume of pedestrian traffic in the Ocean Drive area at the time of the incident, creating additional public safety concerns.”
Authorities confirmed that the vehicle the suspects were in was impounded by FHP.
As of Saturday morning, he was being held at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, where his bond was listed as “to be set.”
No other details about the other suspect were immediately released.
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