Orlando authorities have released footage of a harrowing incident in which a speeding suspect, Cliff Presley Garcia Francois, was targeted by police gunfire downtown after eluding officers and crashing into another vehicle. According to WFTV, the event transpired on October 27 after Francois fled from a parking garage at high speed, endangering the city’s streets and violating traffic signals before eventually ramming into a police cruiser and fleeing on foot.
Surveillance and body camera videos released last Friday reveal the chaos and danger as it unfolded. Chasing after the suspect, “Oh, my God,” one officer is heard in the video when the vehicle left the garage, navigating recklessly on Pine Street — dodging a collision by mere inches, pedestrians scattered in fright. After the patrol car collision, ClickOrlando reported that an Orlando police officer discharged their firearm multiple times at the vehicle as it sped away from the impact.
Francois was apprehended after abandoning the crash site, and remarkably, no injuries resulted from either the high-speed pursuit, the exchange of gunfire, or the subsequent collisions. WFTV further detailed that Francois is a convicted felon with a history of violent crimes, raising the stakes of his capture and the officers’ quick response.
Francois now faces multiple charges, including leaving the scene of a crash, reckless driving, and resisting an officer without violence.
