A St. Augustine man is facing a felony charge after Volusia County deputies say he led them on a motorcycle chase that stretched across four Florida counties before he was finally tracked down and arrested in St. Johns County. Stevens Marin Pantojas, 42, was taken into custody on an arrest warrant issued by the Volusia Sheriff's Office for reckless fleeing, according to the agency.
The pursuit began during a Volusia Sheriff's Office traffic operation on June 13, when a motorcyclist fled from deputies and wove in and out of traffic at high speeds, according to authorities cited by WFLA. The station reports that the Volusia Sheriff's Office Air Unit captured video that day of three motorcycles riding together on the interstate, with deputies on the radio struggling to keep pace. “He's so fast. He's pulling away from us right now,” one deputy said, according to the outlet's report, while another remarked, “We can't see a tag on the camera,” as they tried to identify which rider was fleeing.
Rather than continue a risky ground pursuit through traffic, deputies leaned on aerial surveillance to keep eyes on the fleeing rider as he crossed county lines. The station's report notes deputies at one point radioed, “I think the middle one,” and, “We're trying to catch up,” as they worked to track the correct motorcycle among the group.
How Investigators Built Their Case
Volusia Sheriff's Office detectives say they later found videos posted by Marin Pantojas on his own social media showing him fleeing from authorities on the motorcycle. Detectives established probable cause for an arrest warrant after matching fuel transaction records from a gas station in Eustis with the footage he had uploaded showing deputies and the Air One helicopter monitoring him from above, per the Volusia Sheriff's Office.
Eustis sits in Lake County, roughly 30 miles west of DeLand in Volusia County, according to AARoads — illustrating just how far the pursuit ranged before deputies say Marin Pantojas stopped to refuel. That distance is central to how the case came together: aerial tracking let deputies follow the fleeing rider across jurisdictions without initiating a high-risk ground chase.
Air One's Role in the Pursuit
The Volusia Sheriff's Office Aviation Unit operates its Air One helicopters out of DeLand Municipal Airport, flying a fleet of Bell 407GXi aircraft equipped with thermal optics and navigation systems built to track fleeing suspects around the clock without deputies having to engage in dangerous ground pursuits, according to Bell Textron. The sheriff's office also integrates Air One's flight operations with its public SaferWatch app, which can alert residents in real time about why the helicopter is hovering over their neighborhood.
This isn't the first time Air One has helped run down a motorcyclist trying to outrun deputies. In a past incident, 19-year-old Ashtin Jarvis was arrested after allegedly reaching 145 mph on Interstate 4 while displaying a fake “WILL RUN” license plate, with the helicopter guiding deputies to his eventual capture in Sanford.
What Marin Pantojas Could Face
Marin Pantojas was ultimately taken into custody by the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office on the Volusia warrant. Under Florida Statute § 316.1935, fleeing or attempting to elude a law enforcement officer at high speed or with wanton disregard for safety is a second-degree felony, punishable by up to 15 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine, according to the Florida Senate. A separate provision of the statute imposes a mandatory minimum three-year prison sentence if the high-speed flight causes serious bodily injury or death, though nothing in the available reporting indicates anyone was hurt in this pursuit.
Florida law also treats street racing, stunt driving, and speed exhibitions as a first-degree misdemeanor carrying a mandatory one-year license revocation and vehicle impoundment. Statewide, law enforcement agencies issued more than 9,100 citations for that kind of reckless riding and driving between 2018 and 2023, underscoring how often Florida deputies confront exactly this scenario on the state's highways.
