A late night traffic stop in Miramar turned into a stairwell chase and an hours-late arrest for an off-duty Broward Sheriff's Office deputy, after police say he ran from officers and holed up in his own apartment.
An arrest report identifies the deputy as 54-year-old Pyram Gounot and places the encounter around 11:45 p.m. near the 12000 block of St. Andrews Place. During the pursuit, an officer chasing Gounot reportedly fell in a stairwell, hit a concrete wall and suffered a head cut that required medical treatment.
Police say the stop escalated quickly
According to Local 10, an officer spotted Gounot driving a Toyota pickup at a high rate of speed and tried to pull him over. Instead of stopping, Gounot allegedly ditched the truck and took off on foot, sending the officer sprinting after him.
The report says Gounot ran up stairwells to the front door of his second-floor apartment and ignored repeated orders to come back down. During the standoff at the door, his daughter told officers he worked for the Broward Sheriff's Office, according to the station.
Property records for the 12000 block of St. Andrews Place match the apartment complex cited in the report, according to FloridaParcels.
Where he was taken and BSO oversight
Public materials from the Broward Sheriff's Office describe an Office of Inspector General with an Internal Affairs Division and a Public Corruption Unit that investigates agency personnel. That structure is consistent with the unit Miramar police say assisted in this case.
The Ron Cochran Public Safety Complex, which houses BSO's command operations, is listed at 2601 West Broward Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale on GovernmentJobs.com. Miramar police say Gounot was later brought to that complex and taken into custody there without incident.
Recent deputy arrests add context
Gounot's arrest lands in the middle of a stretch of high-profile cases involving BSO personnel this year. Reserve Deputy Joshua Passman was arrested in February after an investigation that involved the FBI and BSO's Public Corruption Unit, as reported by NBC 6. In January, a detention deputy was arrested on allegations of bringing contraband into a county detention facility, according to NBC 6.
Legal implications
Jail records list Gounot as facing two counts of resisting an officer without violence. Under Florida Statute 843.02, that offense is a first-degree misdemeanor that can carry up to one year in jail, probation and fines, according to the Florida Statutes.
Local 10 reports Gounot was taken into custody at the BSO complex but is no longer listed in jail records.
