Share and Follow
Authorities say the driver intentionally drove on the wrong side of the road to crash into the trooper.
PALM COAST, Fla. — An 18-year-old driver is facing charges after fleeing from law enforcement and crashing into a marked Florida Highway Patrol vehicle on New Year’s Eve, according to Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.
Around 5 p.m. Wednesday, a trooper was traveling northbound on Interstate 95 near Mile Marker 290 pursuing a vehicle that had an active BOLO (be on the lookout) alert because the driver was making suicidal threats, officials said.
The trooper lost sight of the driver, an 18-year-old man who First Coast News is not identifying, and called off the pursuit.
Later, another trooper stationed at County Road 204 and U.S. 1 saw the driver speeding “as if he was attempting to flee and elude,” according to authorities. The trooper activated their emergency lights and sirens in pursuit of the driver.
The driver began weaving in and out of traffic, before entering a roundabout at U.S. 1 and exiting onto Old Kings Road.
The trooper in pursuit saw another trooper with emergency lights activated father down Old Kings Road, where the driver was headed.
Authorities say the driver continued toward the trooper on the wrong side of the road and made “intentional” contact with the trooper’s patrol vehicle.


Afterward, the trooper in pursuit approached the suspect’s vehicle and the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office assisted in arresting him. The suspect was taken to the hospital for injuries sustained in the crash, and was later booked into the Flagler County Jail.
The troopers involved in the crash were hospitalized, but have since been released.
The suspect faces two counts of battery on a law enforcement office, assault on a law enforcement office and one count of fleeing an eluding law enforcement.