Broward man drove 140 mph in chase that killed Florida trooper and a trucker, report says
The Broward man who authorities say is responsible for the deaths of a state trooper and a semi-trucker was driving at 140 mph as law enforcement chased him through a central Florida county last week.
Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Zachary Fink, 26, graduated from the FHP academy in December 2020. He is survived by his mother, father and fiancée. The trooper’s family did not immediately respond to the Miami Herald request for comment on Tuesday.
The semi-truck driver was identified on Wednesday as 55-year-old Arsenio Mas of Homestead.
What precipitated the high-speed chase?
Michael Anthony Addison, 30, was first clocked driving a white Kia at 60 mph in a 30-mile-per-hour zone, prompting a county deputy to try to stop him in the pre-dawn hours of Friday, according to his arrest report.
Addison pulled over. However, once the deputy got close to his car, he sped away.
The deputy ran back to her patrol car and gave chase, along with a colleague in a separate vehicle, as Addison was driving at 90 mph on Midway Road. The chase was called off when Addison turned onto Interstate 95, the report read.
Around 2:52 a.m., about 12 minutes after the initial chase, a trooper clocked Addison driving 140 mph on Commerce Center Drive.
The deputies saw Trooper Fink chasing Addison on the southbound lanes of I-95, but they could not keep up with them, the report read.
“Due to the vehicle’s high rate of speed, I was unable to get close to the pursuit,” deputy Cheyenne Benning said in the report.
A short time later, Benning spotted Addison driving against traffic toward her patrol car on Crosstown Parkway.
“The vehicle made no attempts to avoid a collision with my vehicle,” Benning said.
After Addison passed by him, Benning made a U-Turn and got on I-95 along with Trooper Zachary Fink to catch up with the suspect.
“Trooper Fink, who was in the area, saw the vehicle make a U-Turn and begin driving in the wrong direction,” the Florida Highway Patrol said Friday in a statement. “Trooper Fink then moved to make a U-Turn, and his vehicle was struck by a semi-truck near mile marker 120 southbound.”
Both Fink and the driver of the semi-truck died in the crash.
Addison then exited the interstate, ultimately crashing and abandoning the white Kia on Commerce Center Drive before running away. He was arrested shortly thereafter and taken to Port St. Lucie Police Department.
Wanted in South Florida?
During an interview, Addison told a detective that he fled the initial St. Lucie County traffic stop after thinking he was wanted by authorities following an earlier incident in Broward, Benning said.
Addison is charged with two counts of vehicular homicide; two counts of felony homicide; two counts of unlawful killing of another human being; one count each of aggravated fleeing with serious injury or death; driving without license causing serious injury or death; resisting an officer with violence; and fleeing or eluding police with active siren or lights.
As for what transpired in Broward, jail records show he had an arrest warrant on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and felon in possession of a firearm.
Addison was booked without bond into St. Lucie County Jail, where he remained Tuesday.
This story was originally published February 6, 2024 at 6:17 PM.
