A high-speed chase concluded in a rather anticlimactic fashion on Monday, when a vehicle attempting to evade the police crashed at the end of Eloise Oak Drive, a dead-end street in southeast Winter Haven. According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the escapade began when a black Nissan Rogue fled from an Auburndale PD traffic stop and later from Lake Wales Police.
Fugitive on the run, the Nissan's driver opted to continue the high stakes game, with police declining to engage directly due to the risky behavior displayed. It was the PCSO Aviation unit who silently kept vigil above, trailing the vehicle's every maneuver, biding time for the right moment. Strikingly frying out of the frying pan and into the fire, that moment arose with the Nissan's blundering turn onto a dead-end, sealing its fate.
Once the Nissan hit Eloise Oak Drive's terminus, PCSO patrol units coordinated to block the sole exit. According to reports, "The driver put the car in reverse, backed-up quickly, and lost control of the car." The subsequent mayhem led to the vehicle colliding with two mailboxes and a palm tree. Post-crash, both the driver and passenger decided to continue their flight on foot, only to be caught shortly after in a nearby field, the Sheriff's Office recounted.
Authorities later identified the driver as 23-year-old Donald Gatlin, III, and the passenger as 23-year-old Alarion Herring, both from Lake Wales. Found within their abandoned escape pod, deputies discovered multiple bags of marijuana and approximately $1,600 in cash. Having jumped over it, the fleeing duo damaged a fence before their capture in a cow pasture. Gatlin is now facing multiple charges, including burglary and resisting arrest, as is Herring. The Sheriff's Office has indicated that additional drug-related charges are forthcoming, along with potential charges from Lake Wales PD.
