Slow-Speed Chase Ends With DUI Arrest

A suspected drunken driver who refused to stop for two miles after a Clay County deputy put on his blue lights is faces DUI, resisting an officer and traffic charges.

A clerk at a Race Track station in the 2500 block of Blanding Boulevard notified deputies just after midnight Sunday morning that a man parked at the gas pumps was extremely intoxicated. Before deputies could arrive, the man left in a Toyota pickup truck, heading north on Blanding.

When a Clay County deputy came up behind the pickup at the red light of Blanding and Branan Field Road, the driver failed to pull away when the light turned green. The deputy said after 30 to 45 seconds, the driver attempted to wave the deputy's unmarked car around him.

According to the arrest report, the deputy activated his blue lights and was going to make contact with the driver when the pickup pulled away, but maintained the speed limit. A few blocks farther when a second deputy pulled in front of the pickup, the driver made an abrupt lane change and attempted to pass the cruiser.

A third deputy pulled along side the pickup and activated his siren, blocking him in, and all slowed down. Deputies said the driver then attempted to pass on the grass, but could not get around the cruisers. He stopped several hundred yards later.

Deputies said Arron Lee Thompson, 38, resisted efforts to be handcuffed and complained of pain in his ribs and jaw and was taken to Orange Park Medical Center, where a doctor found no injuries.

Once at jail, officials said Thompson's blood-alcohol was measured at .157 -- nearly twice the legal limit.