Fleeing suspect that went on I-95, the wrong way on I-75 at 100 mph taken into custody
A car theft suspect racing from police imperiled other drivers in North Miami-Dade Thursday morning by going the wrong way on Interstate 75 and Northwest 36th Street as well as slaloming through traffic on Interstate 95, the Palmetto Expressway and State Road 112.
The WSVN-Channel 7 news helicopter following the chase with a speedometer had the driver reaching over 140 mph at one point on the Palmetto, and over 100 mph while going the wrong way on I-75.
Once the driver — or, perhaps, his dark Mazda sedan — stopped at Northwest 43rd Street and 22nd Court, Miami-Dade police officers took the driver into custody. Police said the chase resulted in no injuries and charges were still coming for the 25-year-old driver.
The path of the chase
Miami-Dade police said the chase started when the car’s owner told Opa-locka police he saw his car being driven at Northwest 135th Street and 27th Avenue. Police tried to make a stop and the chase began.
When the WSVN-Channel 7 helicopter picked up the chase, the driver was blowing down I-95, south of the Golden Glades Interchange, at almost 100 mph. What appeared to be a piece of the bodywork hung off the back like a tail.
He took the Northwest 69th Street exit and headed west, slithered up to Northwest 71st Street and continued west to Northwest 17th Avenue.
The chase wound through Hialeah and onto the northbound Palmetto Expressway at speeds reaching 100 mph again. At one point, he exited the highway and took a long, gently curving access road that ended in a warehouse parking lot. He swung around the outer edge of the parking lot and found another exit back onto that access road.
That’s when he got back onto I-75, reaching 100 mph going opposite southbound traffic. Then, he found a place to turn around and was zooming down I-75 to the Palmetto with Florida Highway Patrol officers in pursuit. He got off at Northwest 58th Street, raced east to Northwest 72nd Avenue and down to Northwest 25th Street.
After going east on Northwest 25th Street, the suspect slung the car left onto Northwest 67th Avenue and went back north to Northwest 36th Street. On Northwest 36th Street, heading east with Virginia Gardens police and FHP about to surround him, he sliced left onto the westbound lanes.
Before reaching the traffic clump that’s at Northwest 36th Street and 42nd Avenue most of the day, the suspect got onto State Road 112. He got off 112 at Northwest 22nd Avenue and headed north.
At Northwest 43rd Street, the suspect turned left. The car slowed to a stop at the corner of Northwest 43rd Street and 22nd Court.
This developing story will be updated.
This story was originally published January 7, 2021 at 11:46 AM.
