Dash cam shows driver fleeing police at 100 mph slams into Florida church
By: A driver fleeing troopers at around 100 mph swerved and slammed through the side of a church, video from the Florida Highway Patrol shows.
Troopers began pursuing the vehicle after it ran a stop sign early in the morning on May 7 in Plant City, according to a report from the Florida Highway Patrol.
The vehicle then started traveling on the wrong side of the road and failed to stop at a second stop sign, the report says.
Troopers continued to pursue as the vehicle ran multiple other stop signs, according to the report. It turned onto State Road 60, an east-west highway that crosses Florida from the Gulf of Mexico to the Atlantic Ocean, and reached speeds of around 100 mph.
The vehicle ran a red light and then attempted to turn right onto a road when it swerved off the highway and crashed into a church, the report says.
Dash cam video from the Florida Highway Patrol shows the car veering off the road and crashing its entire front end into the church.
The trooper yelled at the driver to get out of the vehicle, the report says. The driver, later identified as, Damian Alfonso Rios, 25, started “using foul language” toward the trooper and a deputy, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
First responders brought Rios to a hospital for an evaluation. He later submitted to a breath test, and his blood alcohol content was determined to be 0.132 and 0.133 percent, the report says.
He was arrested and charged with reckless driving, fleeing from law enforcement at high speeds, driving under the influence and careless driving, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
He was later released on an $8,500 surety bond, according to Hillsborough County jail records.