Dashcam video shows how a Florida Highway Patrol chase on the Dolphin Expressway ended in a crash and the arrest of a man who allegedly tried to dump a backpack of drugs while he was being pursued.
It happened on Sunday at around 6:31 p.m., when an FHP trooper was driving on State Road 836 eastbound when he saw a white Chevy Trax weaving through traffic at a high rate of speed, at times recorded at 91 mph, according to an arrest report.
The trooper pulled the driver over, and identified him as Shawn Anthony Guerra-Chung, 28.
The Hurricane season is on. Our meteorologists are ready. Sign up for the NBC 6 Weather newsletter to get the latest forecast in your inbox.
An arrest report for Guerra-Chung alleges that the trooper saw him shuffling “an unknown item on the rear right floorboard,” which later appeared to be a green backpack. When the trooper approached, he could also smell burnt marijuana and saw the driver with a blunt in his left ear that appeared to be smoked.
Guerra-Chung said he was moving fast because he was in a hurry, and said that he did not have his medical marijuana card on him, according to FHP. He also reportedly denied having any other drugs in the vehicle.
Then, the trooper asked him to step out so he could search the car, and Guerra-Chung allegedly refused.
Local
“The subject continued to state he did not consent to a search and needed a supervisor,” an arrest report details. That's when Guerra-Chung allegedly took off.
Dashcam shows the trooper run back to his car and pursue the driver for about a minute, until the suspect starts to slow and approach the left shoulder. That's when footage shows the trooper performing a PIT maneuver and bringing the car to a stop.
The trooper yells for Guerra-Chung to put his hands up, and he arrests him.
But when the trooper took inventory of the vehicle, he said he noticed that the green backpack was missing. Other officers then located the backpack on the right shoulder west of where the chase came to an end.
Inside they found:
- A pink tube with two clear ziplock bags with a white powdery substance
- A small amount of marijuana in a clear plastic bag
- Bagged marijuana in a blue bag
- A pink ziplock bag with a clear ziplock bag containing a white powdery substance
- Two white bottles with alprazolam
- A pill bottle with its original label ripped off with three square pills inside suspected to be alprazolam
- A total of 959 pills of alprazolam
- 24 grams of prepackage weight of suspected marijuana
- 28 grams of prepackaged weight of suspected cocaine
Guerra-Chang was charged with possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a controlled substance, fleeing and resisting an officer, and unlawful use of a communications device.
"He advised he fled because he was scared and denied any ownership of the backpack," an arrest report states.
The suspect was taken to Jackson West for clearance and then to the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center.
