An Ocala man was arrested Monday morning after a Florida Highway Patrol trooper gave chase to a stolen vehicle on Interstate 75.
The pursuit started after the trooper spotted the 2010 Chevy Equinox, which had been reported stolen in Marion County, traveling north on I-75 near the Alachua County/Marion County line. He attempted to make a traffic stop on the vehicle, later determined to be driven by 22-year-old Larry Youmans, near the Williston Road exit. But Youmans failed to stop and began to flee, a Florida Highway Patrol report states.
The Equinox struck another vehicle near the intersection of Williston Road and SW 34th “and continued to flee in a reckless manner,” the report says.
A short time later, a FHP patrol vehicle driven by another trooper was able to use a PIT maneuver on the Equinox. The pursuit then ended when Youmans lost control of the vehicle and it came to rest on its left side. Youmans and a passenger, 21-year-old Kiri Grace Bernier, were then taken into custody and transported to the Alachua County Jail.
Youmans, who has been held in the Marion County Jail four times since July 2015, was charged with grand theft of a motor vehicle, reckless driving, two counts of fleeing and eluding law enforcement, operating a motor vehicle without a valid license, three hit-and-run-related charges and possession of marijuana not more than 20 grams.
Bernier was charged with an out-of-county warrant. She has been arrested three times this year in Marion County and charged with a multitude of drug-related crimes.