A Florida Highway Patrol sergeant was taken to the hospital early Monday morning after a reckless driver crashed into the trooper's vehicle during a high-speed pursuit that began in Hillsborough County and ended along Interstate 4 in Polk County. The suspect, later identified as Antwan Brinson, then tried to carjack a passing vehicle before troopers tased him and took him into custody.
According to Tampa Bay 28, an FHP trooper began pursuing Brinson's vehicle on I-4 in Hillsborough County and continued the chase into Polk County, where Brinson attempted to exit the interstate. Per FHP, Brinson lost control of his vehicle and crashed into the trooper's vehicle. As reported by FOX 13 Tampa Bay, the pursuit unfolded in the early morning hours and terminated near an I-4 exit after crossing county lines.
Florida Highway Patrol said a trooper was injured in the crash, and the sergeant involved suffered non-life-threatening injuries before being taken to the hospital, the station's report notes. Brinson then attempted to carjack a passing vehicle, prompting troopers to tase him during the attempted carjacking before taking him into custody. Brinson was also treated at the hospital before being taken to the Polk County Jail, where he faces numerous felonies, per the same account.
What Charges Could Brinson Face
Florida law treats fleeing law enforcement and attempted carjacking as serious felonies. Under Florida Statute § 316.1935, fleeing or attempting to elude police with high speed or wanton disregard for safety is a second-degree felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison, according to Online Sunshine. That charge escalates to a first-degree felony carrying a mandatory minimum prison sentence if a pursuing officer suffers serious bodily injury.
Separately, carjacking under Florida Statute § 812.133 is classified as a Level 7 first-degree felony punishable by up to 30 years in prison, carrying a mandatory minimum sentence of 21 months under state sentencing guidelines even without a firearm or other deadly weapon, notes Richard Hornsby. It remains unclear which specific charges the State Attorney's Office in Polk County has formally filed against Brinson. Historical court and police records reported by the Tampa Bay Times show Brinson, who also goes by the alias Alton Stanley Hall, has a record of traffic and criminal convictions in Pinellas County dating back to 2003, including leaving the scene of an accident involving injury and driving with a suspended license.
A Pursuit Policy Under Scrutiny
This chase adds to a growing list of Central Florida incidents unfolding under FHP's expanded pursuit authority. In late 2023, the agency updated its pursuit policy — codified in a March 2024 revision — to give troopers broader discretion to initiate high-speed chases even for routine traffic infractions and to use high-risk pursuit tactics, according to Axios Tampa Bay.
That policy shift has coincided with a documented rise in pursuit-related deaths. An agency data analysis reported by WJXT News4JAX found fatal crashes resulting from FHP pursuits tripled statewide, from 5 in 2023 to 15 in 2024, after the rules were relaxed. A broader federal crash-data analysis published in June found that high-speed police pursuits across Florida resulted in at least 40 deaths between 2020 and 2024, as detailed in Hoodline's statewide pursuit analysis.
The corridor where this chase ended carries its own hazardous track record. Federal traffic safety data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System identifies Interstate 4 as one of the deadliest interstates in the country, recording more than 1.2 fatalities per mile and over 100 fatal crashes along the Central Florida corridor between 2018 and 2022, according to research cited by HOV Law. A separate study of I-4 traffic incidents published by the National Institutes of Health found that secondary crashes account for up to 15 percent of all highway incidents, posing acute risks to pursuing officers and emergency responders during roadside collisions.
Under FHP's emergency response policy manual, troopers conducting pursuits or tactical vehicle interventions are required to operate marked cruisers with active lights and sirens while continuously weighing traffic density, speed, and public safety risks. It has not been confirmed whether troopers attempted a tactical vehicle intervention, such as a PIT maneuver, before Brinson lost control of his car. The sergeant's specific medical condition and recovery timeline also remain undisclosed.
Monday's incident follows a string of similar I-4 pursuits in the region this year, including a 94 mph chase near Winter Park that ended in a tactical stop, and a case in which a St. Pete driver rammed a trooper with a stolen Jeep during a late-night chase. As with those cases, all carjacking and fleeing allegations against Brinson remain claims pending adjudication in court.
