Man Runs From Police, Crashes Into Livestock Fence: Sheriff

LAKELAND, FL — A suspect is accused of smoking methamphetamine in a stolen truck following a long police chase through Lakeland, a Polk County Sheriff's Office news release said.

Deputies saw a silver Ford F150 that had been reported as stolen from Okeechobee County parked at a Shell gas station in unincorporated Lakeland Monday at about 10:30 p.m. Tracy Mercer, 50, of Avon Park had been asleep in the driver's seat, according to police. He woke up when authorities tried to speak with him, and is accused of driving away toward U.S. Highway 98 South.

A police pursuit occurred, detectives said. Mercer is accused of driving through a chain link fence dragging pieces of it behind the truck. He later crashed through a barbed wire fence where livestock lived. Officers continued to chase him along Marion Drive back to U.S. 98 South. Two vehicles were hit by the fence pieces being dragged behind the truck, investigators said.

Police used stop sticks when Mercer got to Hancock Avenue Southeast in Highland City. According to cops, the sticks punctured the front passenger tire, but Mercer kept driving and hit another vehicle at U.S. 98 and County Road-540A.

Bartow police assisted and blocked traffic at the intersection of U.S. 98 and State Road-60. A deputy eventually stopped him at Clower Street with a Precision Immobilization Technique Maneuver (PIT), according to detectives.

Law enforcement officials said he was smoking methamphetamine in a pipe and continued to press his foot on the accelerator causing the tires to spin.

“This career felon’s criminal history speaks for itself," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "He is a menace to society and obviously has no regard for the public’s safety. We will do everything we can to hold this man accountable for his actions and send him back to prison, away from society, where he belongs.”

No one experienced injuries during this incident, police said.

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, the below items were found in the truck:

• Over 31 grams of methamphetamine
• A stolen license plate
• A shotgun
• 13 rounds of 12 gauge shotgun ammunition
• 43 rounds of 40 caliber ammunition
• Drug paraphernalia

Mercer faces the following charges, according to Sheriff Grady Judd:

• Leaving the scene of a crash
• Knowingly driving with a suspended license
• DUI with property damage
• DUI
• Fleeing to elude
• Criminal mischief
• Possession of ammunition by a convicted felon
• Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
• Petit theft
• Possession of drug paraphernalia
• Damaging fence containing animals
• Tampering with evidence
• Grand theft auto
• Armed trafficking in methamphetamine