Ocean Drive traffic stop ends with FHP chase, PIT maneuver, and 2 men arrested
A traffic stop in Miami Beach turned into a Florida Highway Patrol chase that ended with a controversial PIT maneuver and two men cuffed on Friday night, authorities say.
Miami Beach police officers tried to stop a blue Mercedes SUV around 8 p.m. near Ocean Drive and Ninth Street after they noticed the car had “illegal window tint[s],” according to the arrest affidavit of the driver, Tavaris Palacios, 24, of Fort Lauderdale.
Officers approached the car on the busy Ocean Drive during spring break and told Palacios to pull over onto the right shoulder of the road. Police say Palacios began to comply but then suddenly sped off southbound.
Officers chose not to follow Palacios as they were dealing with another traffic stop and instead issued a ‘Be on the Lookout Alert” (BOLO) over police radio.
Palacios got stuck in traffic in the 500 block of Ocean Drive and was spotted by other officers who again tried to conduct a traffic stop, according to the arrest affidavit. This is when Palacios made an “abrupt and evasive maneuver into the bike lane to flee from officers,” according to Miami Beach police.
Miami Beach officers chose to disengage and update the BOLO.
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper later spotted the car going northbound through the city of Miami. FHP troopers pursued the car on I-95. Palacios exited off the highway onto Northwest 119th Street, where he crashed into a car and sped away, according to FHP.
Controversial police maneuver
Troopers then executed a PIT maneuver on the SUV on Northwest Seventh Avenue near 129th Street, FHP said. In a PIT maneuver, or Precision Immobilization Technique, an officer pushes the rear corner of a fleeing vehicle so that it will spin out of control and the chase will end.
The maneuver is controversial and some police departments and sheriff’s offices ban them due to the risk of injury or death. In a police chase in February in Broward County, an FHP trooper conducted a PIT maneuver, which killed a 74-year-old woman who had moved to the shoulder of Florida’s Turnpike when she saw the police pursuit. The trooper’s PIT maneuver resulted in the car that he was chasing slamming into her car, killing her.
Read More: Innocent victim of police chase had pulled over to get out of the way, records show
At some point during the Friday night pursuit, a trooper shot his gun toward the SUV but did not strike Palacios or his passenger, according to FHP.
FHP detained two people, including Palacios. Authorities say Palacios has an “extensive criminal history” and had his license revoked in 2023 for previous felony convictions. Palacios’ passenger was not named in the arrest affidavit.
The incident remains under investigation.
This story may be updated as more information becomes available.
This story was originally published March 21, 2026 at 10:39 AM.