A reckless ATV driver has been arrested in Lauderdale Lakes after an intense cross-county police chase ended Monday afternoon.
The incident began around 11:30 a.m. when Miami-Dade Police tried to stop the ATV driver near Northeast 2nd Avenue as he headed toward Northeast 135th Street.
Authorities pursued the driver by land and air with patrols from Miami-Dade to Broward County.
Images captured by Chopper 6 showed the driver riding the white ATV while wearing a black ski mask as he eluded authorities through the streets of Miami.
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.
The driver went all through Allapattah, near Jackson Memorial Hospital, and after about 30 minutes of driving around Miami, he jumped on Interstate 95 near the Northwest 79th Street exit.
The driver was then seen traveling northbound as he passed Hollywood Boulevard in Broward County. At that point, Miami-Dade Police were advised not to cross county lines, and Broward Sheriff's deputies and Florida Highway Patrol troopers began tracking him.
Local
During the chase, the ATV was seen crossing intersections without stopping and threading between vehicles.
At one point, the driver even began traveling in the wrong direction going northbound along I-95 while the rest of the traffic was traveling southbound.
The suspect finally made a U-turn, heading southbound on I-95 as he approached Sunrise Boulevard.
He then went westbound Sunrise Boulevard, through a neighborhood, and was finally stopped at a tire shop on NW 31st Avenue just south of Oakland Park Boulevard
Video captured at the scene showed police putting the suspect in handcuffs before taking him away in a patrol vehicle.
Authorities later identified the driver as 18-year-old Anthony Angel Perez. He faces several charges, including fleeing/eluding law enforcement.
"When I got him, they already had him on the floor," said Glen Taylor, the owner of G&S Tires.
Taylor said he had to stop work at his business for a while after the massive police presence blocked customers from going in and out.
