Driver hit speeds of 100 mph trying to outrun and hit Keys deputies, police say
A 21-year-old Fort Lauderdale man was jailed Monday after police said he tried to smash into two deputies’ cars during a wild ride on U.S. 1 in the Lower Keys during which he hit speeds of more than 100 mph with a 15-year-old girl in the car.
Brandon Zambrano faces charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon without the intent to kill, drug possession, fleeing police, resisting arrest, reckless driving and evidence destroying.
On Tuesday evening, he was at the county jail on Stock Island on $70,000 bond. It was unclear whether he has a lawyer.
At about 5:30 p.m. Monday at mile marker 7, a Monroe County sheriff’s deputy spotted a Toyota Corolla headed south on U.S. 1 and estimated it was going 90 mph in a 55 mph zone.
The driver hit speeds of over 80 mph on the Boca Chica Bridge with a patrol car trailing with its lights and sirens. The car eventually slowed and began to pull over at Key Haven Road, police said.
But the driver immediately swerved left across the southbound lanes and made a U-turn into the northbound lanes, “accelerating to speeds of over 100 mph as it swerved through northbound traffic,” according to the arrest report.
Zambrano made two more U-turns and at one point was headed to the entrance of Key West before heading north again, police said.
At mile marker 8, where traffic was heavy, the Corolla cut in and out of traffic, forcing cars off the road, before driving onto the bike path, where police lost sight of it, deputies said.
A deputy tried to use road spikes to stop the Corolla at mile marker 15 and then began pursuing the car. At mile marker 20, the Corolla turned into the parking lot of Mangrove Mama’s restaurant, then crossed U.S. 1 onto Johnson Road, where it made a U-turn at the dead end, police said.
Police said that’s when Zambrano drove “straight at” two deputies’ patrol cars, “forcing them to make evasive maneuvers in order to not be struck by the fleeing vehicle,” the arrest report stated.
The Corolla returned north and deputies deployed road spikes, puncturing the tires. It finally stopped in Fanci Seafood’s parking lot on Cudjoe Key, where Zambrano and the teen took off running, police said.
Deputies caught up with them and said Zambrano jumped into a canal while tossing a handgun into the water.
“A loaded Glock .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol was recovered on the bottom of the canal where Zambrano had jumped in,” said the sheriff’s office spokesman Adam Linhardt.
Both were taken into custody and wouldn’t speak to deputies, according to the report. Linhardt said the girl was turned over to the custody of the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
The girl later said she had been dating Zambrano for a year and that they had been traveling in the car for three days, police said.
Police said they found a handgun in the glove box and 37 grams of marijuana, along with a digital scale and a grinder, in the center console.
In the Corolla’s trunk, deputies said they found nearly 74 grams of marijuana and about 40 grams of Xanax.
This story was originally published May 25, 2021 at 5:59 PM.
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