A man fitting the description of a suspect sought after a BMW tried to outrun a Wildwood policeman, has been booked at the Sumter County Detention Center.
After the BMW struck an SUV, killing a 55-year-old woman, on Tuesday afternoon, the two occupants of the BMW attempted to flee on foot.
One of the men, 27-year-old Anthony Nepoleon Brown of Ocala, was quickly captured and was booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on a host of charges.
The second man was described as an “African-American male with braided hair or dreads wearing black/red shorts and a white T-shirt,” according to a report issued by the Florida Highway Patrol.
The Sumter County Sheriff’s Office issued a Code Red, informing nearby residents of a possibly armed and dangerous man.
A Sumter County sheriff’s deputy responded to a citizen’s report of a man fitting the description, riding a bicycle at NE 69th Road. The man was wearing black shorts and holding a white shirt, according to an arrest report. The deputy tried to chase the man down in his patrol car, but the man ran through a yard. A foot chase ensued and the man refused to obey commands to stop. The deputy fired a taser at the lower back of the man and he fell to the ground. However, the man tried to get up and run again, and had to be tasered for a second time.
He has been identified as 36-year-old Joseph Lee Douglas. He has been booked at the Sumter County Detention Center on a charge of resisting arrest.
He has not been formally linked to the crash of the BMW.
Douglas had been arrested in Sumter County last year on charges of resisting arrest, battery and a probation violation.