A Friday night traffic stop in Hollywood escalated into a short-lived chase and crash, ending with officers arresting a 28-year-old man at ArtsPark at Young Circle, according to police. Investigators say the driver plowed into an electrical control box before ditching the vehicle and taking off on foot.
Traffic stop turns into chase, police say
Hollywood police say officers pulled over a vehicle just before 8 p.m. near North 19th Avenue and Tyler Street. Inside, they reported seeing a large amount of cash, a gun and what they described as illicit drugs.
According to Local 10, the driver, identified by police as 28-year-old Brandon Cleve Dawkins, was asked to step out of the car. Instead, officers say he jumped back in, hit the gas and sped away.
Police say the vehicle ultimately slammed into an electrical control box, and the driver then abandoned the car and ran. Members of the Hollywood Police Department later found Dawkins at ArtsPark at Young Circle and took him into custody.
Where he was found
Officers located Dawkins inside ArtsPark at Young Circle, a 10-acre civic park in downtown Hollywood at 1 N Young Cir. The park sits at Hollywood Boulevard and U.S. 1 and regularly hosts events, making that stretch a busy part of the downtown corridor, according to the Broward County ArtsPark information page (Broward County ArtsPark).
Charges and custody
Jail records show Dawkins is facing multiple charges,
Local 10 reported. According to records cited by the station, those counts include aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, possession of oxycodone, possession of a weapon or ammunition by a convicted felon, fleeing and eluding police, resisting an officer without violence and driving with a suspended or revoked license.
Local 10 also reported that Dawkins was on federal probation for an offense out of Georgia and was being held without bond at the Broward County Main Jail as of Saturday morning.
Legal context
Florida law allows enhanced penalties for battery and aggravated battery when the victim is a law enforcement officer or when a deadly weapon is used. Those provisions are detailed in Chapter 784 of the Florida Statutes. If prosecutors pursue the aggravated battery allegation involving an officer, the charge can carry felony-level penalties and will be handled in local court under state law (Florida Statutes, Ch. 784).
