A driver allegedly fled from law enforcement at a “high rate of speed” with four children who were not in car seats riding in her vehicle.
Darrelyahna Jeromeica Brutton, 20, of Ocala, had been parked in a black Chevrolet on Tuesday at a gas pump at the Circle K on Miller Street when an officer ran the plate number and discovered the registered owner had a suspended license, according to an arrest report from the Fruitland Park Police Department. Another police officer began following Brutton’s vehicle when she made an abrupt turn into the parking lot of the nearby Family Dollar store. She “accelerated at a high rate of speed in what appeared to be an attempt to elude law enforcement,” the report said.
The officer temporarily lost sight of the vehicle, but then spotted it again at West Miller Street and College Avenue. During a traffic stop, Brutton admitted her driver’s license has been suspended due to failure to pay a traffic fine.
“She stated that she saw me behind her and fled because she was afraid because she had four kids in the car without car seats and that she has been issued citation in the past for this violation,” the officer wrote in the arrest report.
Brutton was arrested on a charge of driving while license suspended. She was issued four citations for lack of child restraints and a ticket for not wearing a seatbelt.
She was booked at the Lake County Jail on $1,000 bond.