SAINT LUCIE, Fla. —
A Port St. Lucie man was arrested Thursday night after leading St. Lucie County deputies on a high-speed chase that ended on South Hutchinson Island.
The pursuit began in the 9600 block of South Ocean Boulevard when a Patrol Operations deputy attempted to stop the driver of a pickup truck for a traffic violation.
Capt. Andrew Bolonka, the director of communications for the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, said the driver fled instead of stopping, making a U-turn and spinning donuts in the roadway, forcing other motorists to take evasive action.
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After briefly stopping, the driver made another U-turn, cut across lanes of traffic, and accelerated toward the deputy’s patrol vehicle.
“The deputy tries to stop the vehicle; all of a sudden, the vehicle lunges, takes off, accelerates, does another U-turn, and then starts allegedly heading straight toward the deputy. Which you can see in the body-worn camera, where the deputy makes an evasive maneuver and says, ‘Oh, he almost hit me,'” Bolonka said.
Members of the department’s Special Investigations Unit and deputies in the air assisted in the pursuit.
The driver continued to flee even after stop sticks were deployed. Deputies eventually executed a PIT maneuver along Seaway Drive, bringing the vehicle to a stop. Despite repeated verbal commands to exit the truck, the driver refused, prompting deputies to deploy pepper balls into the vehicle. The driver then surrendered and was taken into custody without further incident.
The suspect, identified as 37-year-old Joshua Gallagher of Port St. Lucie, faces several charges, including aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, possession of a controlled substance without a prescription, and resisting arrest without violence. He remains in custody at the St. Lucie County Jail.
“When people make decisions like this, and they commit an act that puts not only the deputies and other law enforcement officers in peril, but they are also putting the general public in peril. If we can do so safely, we’re going to put it to an end,” Bolonka said.
Authorities expressed relief that no one was injured during the incident.
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