A man has been arrested after fleeing from police, crashing his vehicle, and sending a 15-year-old girl to the hospital on Friday night, according to Fort Walton Beach police.
An officer responded at about 7 p.m. to a citizen complaint of a suspicious vehicle in the wooded area behind Docie Bass Recreation Center, according to a police news release. The tipster told police a man drove a vehicle into the woods, got out, and walked away. People have been abandon stolen vehicles in the area, according the report.
The officer found the vehicle and radioed in the license plate, which turned out to be for a different vehicle. As the officer got out of his vehicle to investigate, the suspicious vehicle sped away.
After a short pursuit, the driver lost control of the vehicle and crashed it into a palm tree in a Ferry Road yard.
The driver ran from the crash, but was found about 20 minutes later, the news release reported. After a short struggle, 23-year-old Tyreese William Jett was arrested.
A teen girl was inside the vehicle during the chase, the news release reported. She told officers she asked Jett to let her out of the vehicle at least three times and was refused. She had injuries to her head and shoulder and was taken to Fort Walton Beach Medical Center before being released to her parents.
Jett was charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding law enforcement officers, false imprisonment, resisting officers without violence, driving with a suspended drivers license, no motor vehicle insurance, leaving the scene of a traffic crash with injuries/property damage, and attaching tag not assigned to vehicle. No bond had been set as of Saturday night.
Police are still investigating the activities of Jett and the teen before and while they were at the park.
