A routine traffic stop near North 56th Street and Puritan Road in Tampa turned into a chaotic chase through a residential neighborhood on Thursday morning, ending with a driver accused of ramming a deputy’s vehicle, rupturing a city water pipe, and plowing into an apartment building before running off on foot. Hillsborough County deputies arrested 41-year-old Stoel Markes Jr. in connection with the crash spree.
According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, deputies attempted to pull over a silver Nissan at 10:46 a.m. Thursday near North 56th Street and Puritan Road. The driver was identified as Markes, who allegedly reversed the Nissan directly into a deputy’s vehicle as the stop unfolded.
Chase Ends With Crash Into Apartment Complex
From there, the sheriff’s office says Markes struck a street sign and a City of Tampa water pipe while attempting to get away. He then allegedly drove onto a sidewalk at an apartment complex off Heather Lyn Court and struck a building before abandoning the Nissan and fleeing on foot, per the same account. Deputies managed to take him into custody following the pursuit.
The entire episode was captured on surveillance video as well as HCSO body-camera footage, the sheriff’s office said, offering investigators a documented record of the stop-turned-chase from multiple angles.
Multiple Felony Charges Filed
Markes now faces a lengthy list of charges stemming from the incident. The sheriff’s office booked him on aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon, felony fleeing to elude, and resisting an officer without violence.
He was also charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage and driving while his license was suspended or revoked, the sheriff’s office said.
What Florida Law Says About the Charges
Under Florida’s fleeing and eluding statute, a driver who knowingly refuses to stop or flees to elude an officer after unlawfully leaving or attempting to leave the scene of a crash, and in doing so causes injury to a person or damage to property, commits aggravated fleeing or eluding — a second-degree felony, according to Chapter 316, Section 1935 of the Florida Statutes.
The aggravated battery charge carries even steeper exposure. Per Chapter 784, Section 07 of the Florida Statutes, aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer is elevated from a second-degree felony to a first-degree felony, and a conviction carries a mandatory minimum five-year prison sentence.
