Frantic golf cart chase ends when deputy on foot yanks out the driver, Florida cops say

A deputy pursuing a golf cart at 1 a.m. exited his patrol car and yanked the DUI suspect from the cart as it drove past, according to investigators in Florida.

The deputy then “escorted him to the ground” for a series of sobriety tests, an affidavit reports.

It happened July 19 in The Villages and much of the chase played out on roads where golf carts are illegal, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said in an affidavit. The Villages is about a 60-mile drive northwest of Orlando.

The low-speed chase began when the deputy saw a golf cart drive past him on four-lane Highway 466, where golf carts are forbidden due to a 45-mph speed limit, the affidavit says. Gas-powered golf carts reach about 20 mph on average.

“I also observed the golf cart traveling in the middle of the roadway taking up both lanes of travel,” the deputy noted.

A convoluted pursuit began — with lights and siren activated — as the deputy followed the driver down highways and golf cart paths, the report states.

“I located the subject driving on the golf cart path on Morse Blvd. ... At that time, I exited my marked patrol car and approach the subject as he drove the golf cart towards my position,” the deputy wrote.

“Due to the subject resisting my commands, I had to reach into the golf cart ... and grab the subject’s upper torso. I then pulled him from the golf cart and escorted him to the ground.”

The 21-year-old driver was given a series of sobriety tests and charged with DUI, fleeing and eluding law enforcement and resisting an officer, jail records show. The suspect lives in Lady Lake, about a 5-mile drive east from The Villages.

This story was originally published July 26, 2024 at 4:29 AM with the headline "Frantic golf cart chase ends when deputy on foot yanks out the driver, Florida cops say."