CITRUS COUNTY, Fla. – Citrus County Sheriff’s deputies arrested 20-year-old Traveon Jaquaad Samuels of Sumter County following a vehicle pursuit that resulted in Samuels crashing his vehicle into a home in Floral City.
Deputies observed Samuels fail to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of East Gobbler Drive and South Withlapopka Drive and initiated a traffic stop.
When deputies activated their emergency lights, Samuels began to reverse towards the patrol car, stopped abruptly, and made a U-turn. Samuels continued to drive recklessly through residential streets, fleeing at rates of up to 60 mph in a 30 mph zone.
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A tire deflation device was deployed, and contact was made with the vehicle’s front right tire.
Samuels continued to flee from deputies, switching to the oncoming lane of traffic, nearly striking another patrol car head-on. Samuels continued to try to evade deputies by driving through a backyard but crashed into a nearby home with one individual inside. Samuels abandoned his vehicle and began to run on foot, but he was eventually apprehended after a short foot chase.
The victim inside the home was transported to the hospital and is currently in stable condition.
K-9 Airborne was deployed for a free air sniff of the exterior of Samuels’
vehicle and alerted to the presence of a controlled substance. Upon searching Samuels’ vehicle, deputies located several bags of illicit narcotics, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin.
“Samuels has a lengthy criminal history throughout our state and has a habitual disregard for the law. He not only put our deputies’ safety in immediate danger but endangered the entire community through both his reckless driving and trafficking in illicit narcotics,” said Sheriff Mike Prendergast. “I am proud of our team’s quick actions in ensuring this dangerous criminal was removed from our streets. Thankfully, the individual who was injured in this incident is recovering.”
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Samuels, who had an active warrant out of Putnam County for trafficking in fentanyl and trafficking in methamphetamine was arrested and charged with:
Fleeing and eluding with disregard for safety Trafficking in fentanyl Trafficking in methamphetamine Trafficking in heroin Possession of a controlled substance Possession of marijuana over 20 grams Aggravated assault on law enforcement Possession of drug paraphernalia Resisting law enforcement without violence
Samuels is currently held at the Citrus County Detention Center without bond.
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