Police were called because a man was naked. The chase ended with gunshots in Golden Beach.
A police chase that began in Hallandale Beach ended a few miles south in the ritzy enclave of Golden Beach with an officer firing a weapon after the suspect hit him with his vehicle, police said.
No one was struck by gunfire, but three people, including two police officers, were taken to the hospital.
Golden Beach Town Manager Alex Diaz confirmed that Hallandale Beach police officers chased a car south into Golden Beach Monday morning and that there was an officer-involved shooting. He said no Golden Beach officer fired a weapon.
Hallandale Beach Police Cmdr. Rashana Dabney-Donovan said police received a call just before 7 a.m. about a naked man leaving a building in the 1800 block of South Ocean Drive. She said he stole a vehicle about a block from the building, then was spotted driving “erratically” by police a short while later.
Hallandale Beach police then followed the vehicle into Golden Beach. But Dabney-Donovan said that when the officer tried to initiate a traffic stop, the suspect hit him with his vehicle, “forcing the officer to fire multiple times.” Then, the commander said, the suspect, who was not shot, crossed the median and began driving down the road in the wrong direction, before getting out of the vehicle and being taken into custody.
The suspect, who was not named, and two officers were taken to the hospital for observation. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will investigate the firing of the weapon by the officer.
The chase ended at 416 Ocean Blvd. Golden Beach in Northeast Miami-Dade is one of the most expensive ZIP codes in the county. Most of the homes at or near the Atlantic Ocean coastline are worth several million dollars. The town has about 1,000 residents.
Just eight days ago a Hallandale Beach police officer fired his weapon at a man who refused to stop for a traffic violation. City police said the man was holding a weapon out the window of his vehicle before he was shot in Hollywood near City Hall. The injury was non-life-threatening.
This story was originally published December 16, 2019 at 1:16 PM.
