DADE CITY, Fla. – Three women who were applying suntan lotion publicly in the nude at a Florida rest stop led police on a 21-mile chase, drove a car at a deputy and threatened another deputy with a bat, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Troopers said when a deputy approached the women at the Interstate 75 rest stop Wednesday in Dade City, they started dressing. They said they had been staying at a relative’s home but went to the rest stop after an altercation and had nowhere else to go.
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WFTS-TV reported the women claimed they were “air drying” after washing up. The women then fled in a car first south on I-75, turning around at the next rest area and headed north toward State Road 52.
WFTS said the trooper initiated a pursuit, but the pursuit was canceled due to the pursuit not fitting FHP criteria, according to FHP. When a citizen called in a report of reckless driving on SR-52, dispatch tracked the car as it pulled into the convenience store parking lot located at State Road 52 and Curley Road, where troopers found the car empty. When the three women exited the store and got into the car, the report said a trooper attempted to take one of the women into custody, the driver purposely drove directly at the trooper who had to jump away to avoid getting hit. One of the women got out of the car with a metal bat and tried to hit the trooper. Another trooper witnessed this attempt and rammed the suspect car with his marked patrol vehicle, the women got away in the car again.
Dade City Police Department responded to the area and deployed stop sticks which successfully deflated the right side tires of the suspect car and a trooper performed a PIT maneuver to stop the car.
The report said a trooper had to break out the vehicle windows because the three women refused to get out and resisted arrest. They were interlocking their arms together in the car when the trooper broke the windows. The trooper tasered all three women and took them into custody. They were booked to the Pasco County Jail on charges of fleeing to elude, resisting arrest, aggravated assault and lewd acts.