Florida man goes on a wild ride after carjacking, cops say. But he didn’t take a car
You’ve heard of being carjacked. But what about being cart jacked?
According to an arrest report from the St. Johns County’s Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a reported carjacking of a golf cart Monday in St. Augustine and went after the vehicle.
The deputies observed the “male subject recklessly driving a red, gas powered golf cart” through the intersection of U.S. 1 North and Palencia Village Drive.
Even after the patrol car’s lights and siren were activated, the suspect still did not stop, according to the complaint.
The driver, later identified as Andrew Thomson Burnett, soon began “weaving the cart back and forth on U.S. 1 North, before making an abrupt U-turn in front of oncoming traffic and driving into a ditch.”
The suspect ran, but was captured by deputies a short time later near an apartment complex.
During the pursuit, Burnett, 42, attempted to make an escape by using his head to bust through a vinyl fence.
Once detained, the Sanford man was “uncooperative” and “exhibiting unusual behaviors.”
Shortly after, deputies received the report of the suspect having battered a victim while working in the area and taking the golf cart by force. The victim told law enforcement he had never seen the suspect before the incident began.
The affidavit says that the victim was sitting in the car and the defendant “approached him and punched him in the face twice with a closed fist” causing the person to fall onto the ground. The suspect then jumped into the cart and drove “recklessly” onto the highway.
Burnett was arrested on a variety of charges that included robbery, fleeing and eluding, battery, two counts of criminal mischief and resisting a law enforcement officer.
He was booked into the county jail, where he remains on $8,000 bond.
The cart’s front was damaged after Burnett allegedly drove into a ditch, but the cost of the damages was not specified.
