PALM COAST, Fla. – A man who ran from a car filled with drugs after a police pursuit that ended in a crash was tracked down by a K-9 that found him hiding up a tree in the woods, Flagler County deputies said.
According to the Sheriff's Office, deputies tried to pull over a suspicious car around 3 a.m. Friday at the Kangaroo gas station on State Road 100 at I-95.
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The car was driven away before it crashed into the woodline at SR 100 and Bulldog Drive in Palm Coast, deputies said.
The driver, De Andre Jackson, 24, jumped out and ran into the woods. A female passenger stayed in the car, and a second man, De'L Jackson, 21, was quickly captured, deputies said.
Deputies found large amounts of cocaine in the car, along with narcotic pills, marijuana and drug paraphernalia. They also found a gun loaded with 10 rounds, including one in the chamber, the sheriff's office said.
Cpl. Fred Gimbel and his K-9 partner, Marko, found De Andre Jackson, a convicted felon, hiding in a tree, deputies said.
He was charged with fleeing and attempting to elude law enforcement, trafficking in crack cocaine, possession of oxycodone, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon, possession of marijuana under 20 grams, possession of drug paraphernalia, leaving the scene of a crash, and driving with a suspended driver’s license.
De’L Jackson had two warrants for his arrest for violation of probation for burglary from Osceola County and Orange County. Deputies said he is classified as a violent felony offender of special concern.
De’L Jackson was also on probation for burglary with an imposed curfew from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily that required him to be confined to an approved residence. He was charged with felony violation of probation for violating that curfew, as well as resisting arrest without violence.
“This was great police work by our patrol deputies and they potentially stopped serious crimes before they were committed today,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a prepared statement. “These were dirtbags dealing poison from Orlando in our community. ... Now they are booked into the Green Roof Inn where they belong.”
Both men are being held without bond at the Flagler County Detention Facility.