Man Accused Of Fleeing Police Faces New Drug Charges

A Lutz man who led police in a vehicle chase that caused three accidents on May 30 has been charged with new drug-related offenses by the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.

The man was stopped by a Hillsborough deputy who spotted a blue four-door Volvo driving on the two middle lanes of northbound traffic on the Veterans Expressway. The deputy stopped the car and “immediately smelled marijuana,” according to a Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office media release.

While the deputy was talking with the suspect, the man fled the scene, almost hitting the deputy in the process, according to a release. The suspect hit a vehicle in the area of Hutchinson Road and the Veterans, doing  $5,000 in damage to the other car but injuring nobody. The man got off the expressway and then struck another car near Cheval, doing $500 in damage. A few minutes later, after Hillsborough had ended its pursuit, officials were notified of a crash that had taken place on County Line Road and U.S. 41 in Pasco County.

The man’s car had narrowly missed hitting a Hyundai that swerved to avoid a collision and instead hit a BMW SUV. The driver of the Hyundai and passenger were both taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital with non-life threatening injuries, the release said.

The suspect was located and arrested in Pasco County.

Arrested at a residence was Demilo Morrow, 33, of 1053 Westwood Drive in Lutz.

A Pasco detective obtained permission from Morrow’s girlfriend to search his residence. The detective found 291 grams of cocaine and 822 grams of marijuana, according to his report. Morrow admitted he owned the drugs. He told the detective he only stayed at the residence from time to time and that his girlfriend did not know about the drugs. He was charged with possession of cocaine and possession of marijuana.

Morrow also faces a number of charges from Hillsborough, including fleeing to elude, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, giving a false name to a law enforcement officer, leaving the scene of the crash, two counts of reckless driving and driving while a license is suspended.

Two additional warrants included: failure to appear for loitering and prowling and driving while license suspended.