He drove miles on wheel rims in stolen car. He won’t say why he was in the Keys.
A South Carolina man was arrested in the Florida Keys early Saturday morning after leading police on a chase that went on for more than five miles after cops used road spikes to flatten his tires.
Nicholas Scott-Clayton Cascario, 31, is in Monroe County jail with no bond information immediately available on charges of grand theft and fleeing and eluding police.
The car he drove, a Chevrolet HHR, was reported stolen from Maine, according to a sheriff’s office press release. An electronic plate reader in Key Largo alerted deputies around 1 a.m. that the car entered the county, according to the release.
Deputy Joel Torres spotted the car heading south at mile marker 106 on U.S. 1. He drove behind the Chevy and turned on his lights and sirens, but the car kept traveling south, said Adam Linhardt, sheriff’s office spokesman.
As the pursuit continued, Torres was joined by other deputies and officers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Florida Highway Patrol.
A deputy at mile marker 91 in Tavernier laid down road spikes, which popped two of the tires on the Chevy. However, Cascario kept going, Linhardt said. Another deputy put spikes on the highway at mile marker 89, flattening the two other tires. But, Cascario wasn’t done trying to get away.
He drove on the rims until finally one of them gave way and he lost control of the car at mile marker 82, Linhardt said. The Chevy came to a stop in the grass on the shoulder of U.S. 1.
Deputies arrested Cascario without any further incident, according to the press release. However, he refused to tell deputies why he was in the Keys or any information about himself, Linhardt said.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
