Man Drove Vehicle Straight At Deputy: Sheriff

BRADENTON, FL — A check on a suspicious vehicle parked in the 8000 block of Uplands Boulevard early Wednesday morning turned into more than a Manatee County Sheriff’s deputy likely bargained for.

According to the sheriff’s office, one of its deputies spotted the vehicle just before 3 a.m. Feb. 14. As the deputy was preparing to go and speak with the vehicle’s occupants, a second vehicle pulled up to the scene.

The deputy, an email from the sheriff’s office said, decided to approach the second vehicle first. When he did, however, “the driver revved the engine and rapidly accelerated directly at the deputy.”

The deputy was able to take evasive actions, but was still hit in the left arm by the vehicle’s mirror, “causing him to spin down the side of the vehicle.”

At that point, the vehicle took off and the deputy returned to his own cruiser to give chase. The pursuit lasted about 3 minutes, the sheriff’s office said, and ended when the suspect vehicle was involved in a minor traffic crash in the 4900 block of Tamiami Trail in Sarasota County.

The driver of the vehicle, identified as Dennis Lee Flowers, 39, bailed out of the vehicle on foot, the sheriff’s office said. The deputy once again gave chase.

“Flowers unsuccessfully tried to run through a fence and then attempted to tackle the deputy,” the email said. “A scuffle ensued and Flowers was stunned (with a taser) and taken into custody.”

Three other people were in the vehicle with Flowers, the sheriff’s office said. None of the three were charged. No serious injuries were reported.

Flowers, however, was arrested aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and aggravated fleeing to elude charges.

The sheriff’s office has not identified the deputy involved.

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