PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A 25-year-old man is facing felony charges after fleeing Port St. Lucie police and the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office deputies on a dirt bike, a pursuit that included the county's air unit and a Taser deployed by an officer.
At about 3 p.m. Saturday, St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office deputies attempted to stop a dirt bike operated by Reggie Cantarero, "who was driving in a reckless fashion, even doing donuts around one of their marked traffic units," Port St. Lucie said in a Facebook post.
The county's air unit followed the dirt bike as he recklessly drove throughout Districts 3 and 4 of Port St. Lucie, "driving into on-coming traffic, onto center medians, and doing donuts in several intersections within the city, placing the general public in danger," according to the agency.
At about 4:15 p.m., a police sergeant was traveling westbound on Southwest Gatlin Boulevard after turning from Southwest Bougainvillea Avenue.
The dirt bike was driving eastbound in the westbound direction and went head-on toward the sergeant’s marked patrol SUV, causing the sergeant to take evasive action to avoid a crash, police said.
The dirt bike pulled behind a Walmart at 3045 SW Port St. Lucie Blvd., attempting to re-fuel after an unknown person gave him a gas can.
Cantarera refused multiple commands by an officer to stop, instead trying to get back onto his bike to flee again, according to police.
The officer deployed four Taser probes into Cantarero and he was taken into custody without further incident.
Cantarero is facing charges of fleeing and Eluding, resisting without violence and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. The Sheriff's Office also arrested Cantarero on several charges and took him to the St. Lucie County Jail.
"Our message is clear: these types of willful, wanton, reckless, and unlawful actions will not be tolerated in the City of Port St. Lucie and a zero tolerance approach will be taken with any and all violators," the agency posted on Facebook.
