18-Year-Old Haines City Man Accused Of Fleeing Troopers, Crashing

POLK COUNTY, FL — Florida Highway Patrol troopers have arrested an 18-year-old Haines City man who they said caused a crash after fleeing from a trooper during radar speed enforcement on Ronald Reagan Parkway near Champions Gate Boulevard.

On Sunday at 12:17 a.m., a trooper was conducting speed enforcement when a red 2015 Ford Mustang drove by at a speed of nearly 80 mph in a 45 mph zone. As the trooper activated his emergency lights to give chase, the driver of the Mustang turned off his lights and accelerated out of sight over a rise and around a curve.

The trooper was unable to keep the Mustang in sight so he turned off his emergency lights and stopped chasing the Mustang. As the trooper approached the intersection of Ronald Reagan Parkway and Pine Tree Trail, he discovered the Mustang had crashed into a 2008 Nissan Pathfinder, and that the driver and passenger of the Mustang had fled on foot. A second passenger was discovered in the back seat of the Mustang.

Polk County deputies helped find the passenger who fled the Mustang immediately. The driver was located and arrested on Sunday afternoon at his Haines City son., according to troopers.

Both the 21-year-old driver and passenger of the Pathfinder were taken to the hospital where the driver is in serious condition. The passengers of the Mustang, 15- and 17-year-old teen boys of Haines City, were also taken to the hospital.

The driver of the Mustang, 18-year-old Ramon Santiago-Garcia, was charged with reckless driving causing serious bodily injury, fleeing with disregard to causing injury or death, and leaving the scene of a crash involving serious bodily injury.