Staff report

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Jerry Wayne Brunson, Jr., 35, was arrested last night after allegedly fleeing from an attempted traffic stop, leading officers through several apartment complexes until they discontinued pursuit after about three miles. After his car was found abandoned with a flat tire, he was located in another car in the Butler Plaza area and arrested.

At about 9:39 p.m. on May 31, a Gainesville Police Department officer saw a car making a U-turn on a red light on SW Archer Road, near SW 23rd Terrace; the officer attempted a traffic stop by turning on his lights and siren, but the car continued driving west on Old Archer Road and turned into the Brandywine apartment complex.

The car stopped inside the complex, and the driver, later identified as Brunson, rolled down his window and said he was going to a friend’s house but refused to put the car in park or turn off the ignition. When officers again asked him to turn off the ignition, Brunson reportedly said, “I don’t have to turn off my car.” He reportedly refused to show officers his hands and kept his right hand inside the vehicle; he rolled the window up, rolled it back down, then started slowly driving away from the officer.

Officers reportedly followed the car through the Brandywine and Hidden Village apartment complexes at low speeds, with the car avoiding multiple roadblocks set by officers inside the apartment complexes. The car then went back out to Old Archer Road eastbound, merged onto SW 16th Avenue, and made a U-turn at Shealy Drive before driving west on SW Archer Road.

The officer reported that during the pursuit, Brunson “nearly hit multiple [law enforcement] vehicles, civilian vehicles, and failed to comply with multiple traffic control devices (‘No U-turn’ sign, red lights, stop signs).”

Officers terminated the pursuit after about three miles because they determined it was unsafe to continue.

Brunson’s car was found in Butler Plaza about 10 minutes later, still running but disabled with a blown front tire. Officers patrolled the area and later found Brunson sitting in the front passenger seat of a different car, which was later found to be registered to his wife. Brunson complied with commands to get out of the car and was arrested.

Post Miranda, Brunson reportedly said he didn’t stop because he is scared of the police; he said if he had been in a lighted area and had someone else with him, he would have stopped. The officer reported that Brunson’s driver’s license was revoked on April 9, 2025, but Brunson reportedly said he did not know that. He said he knew the police were trying to pull him over.

Brunson’s wife reportedly said he called her to pick him up because he had a flat tire, but she did not know he had been evading the police. She said he asked her to drive away, but she refused and talked him into turning himself in.

Brunson has been charged with fleeing with lights and sirens active and driving with a revoked driver’s license. He has three felony convictions, including two previous convictions for fleeing, and three misdemeanor convictions. In a similar incident in 2022, he eventually pulled over but refused to get out of the car and told officers he was afraid of the police before driving away while the officers were out of their vehicle; he entered a plea of nolo contendere in that case and was sentenced to one year of probation in February 2023 but was later sentenced to nine months in jail after violating probation. Judge Sheree Lancaster set bail at $27,500.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.