A St. Petersburg police officer is uninjured after crashing during an overnight pursuit.
According to deputies, a police officer was stopped at the intersection of 15th Avenue South and 22nd Street South in St. Pete at about 1:49 a.m. Tuesday. He saw a vehicle traveling westbound on 22nd Avenue South and as it approached the intersection, it accelerated and headed straight toward the officer.
The officer was forced to use evasive maneuvers to avoid a collision and a pursuit transpired.
During which pursuit, the officer crashed into a utility pole at the intersection of 22nd Street South and 22nd Avenue South.
Officers deployed stop sticks intersection of 22nd Ave. South and 31st St. South and in the 700 block of 40th Street South to attempt to stop the crazed driver. The vehicle being pursued ran over the stop sticks…and so did a police cruiser. The police cruiserhad a flat tire. The suspect vehicle traveled until the tires came off the rims and it eventually came to a stop in the parking lot of the shopping center located at 1940 49th Street South.
The driver ran from the scene. A Pinellas Sheriff’s Office helicopter arrived on scene just prior to the end of the pursuit and assisted our K-9 units with the search for the driver.
The passenger of the vehicle did not flee and was cooperative with the investigation. The driver wasn’t located.
