A 33-year-old Leesburg man who sped away from a police officer on Saturday night was arrested early Monday morning.
Collton Leon Reddick, of 209 S. Lake St. Unit G, was charged with fleeing/eluding at a high speed with disregard for public safety.
At around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, a Leesburg police officer patrolling the 700 block of North 14th Street (Highway 27) saw a black Mitsubishi being driven northbound in an aggressive, unsafe manner. The officer “paced” the vehicle and estimated its speed at around 60 mph in a 35-mph zone, according to the police report.
The driver of the Mitsubishi then made an abrupt lane change to the right, forcing the driver of a vehicle in the right lane to abruptly apply the brakes to prevent a collision. The officer tried to initiate a traffic stop and the driver drastically lowered his speed to below 35 mph, the report said.
The officer used the patrol vehicle’s spotlight to get a look at the driver and the interior of the vehicle and observed the driver was a black male with long black dreadlocks. The driver continued at a slow speed while passing Citizens Boulevard and appeared to be looking for a place to pull over, but then he abruptly accelerated and nearly collided with a vehicle in front of him, according to the report.
The officer estimated the Mitsubishi was going 65 mph while headed towards a major intersection with a large number of vehicles stopped for a red light. With all four lanes occupied by stopped vehicles, the driver of the Mitsubishi started cutting in and out of lanes, without any regard for the safety of people or property. He then accelerated through the eight lanes of north and southbound traffic, the report said.
The Mitsubishi sped off at an estimated 70 mph. The officer used its license tag number to identify the owner as Reddick. He then viewed Reddick’s driver’s license photo to confirm he was the driver, according to the report.
A probable cause affidavit was issued and Reddick was arrested at his home at 2:42 a.m. Monday. He was released from the Lake County Jail on $5,000 bond and is scheduled to appear in Lake County Court on Jan. 9.
