A helicopter and K-9 unit helped hunt down a suspect after a high-speed chase in Ocklawaha.
A Marion County sheriff’s deputy in an unmarked vehicle was at Meadors Corner Grocery Store on SE 95th Street Road on Wednesday afternoon when he noticed a white GMC Jimmy SUV which had an unassigned license plate. The vehicle failed to come to a complete stop and then made a U-turn. A high-speed pursuit began and a second deputy deployed stop sticks in the area of the 13000 block of SE 182nd Avenue Road, according to an arrest report. At least one of the tires was punctured.
The SUV hit a tree and the driver, later identified as 30-year-old Matthew Kyle Thomas of Palmetto, was pinned in on the driver’s side. He exited through a passenger door and fled into the woods.
The sheriff’s office’s aviation unit, Air One, and a K-9 unit joined in the chase. Thomas suffered a bite from the K-9, named Jet, and was taken into custody.
Thomas claimed he had paid $500 for the SUV at a recycling center in Manatee County. Pawn slips and court documents were found in the vehicle.
Thomas was arrested on charges of fleeing law enforcement, operating a motor vehicle without a license, resisting arrest and failure to register a motor vehicle. He was booked at the Marion County Jail on $17,000 bond.
