A man was arrested Monday after a traffic stop and a carjacking in Flagler County led to a high-speed chase that ended in Volusia County, according to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office.
Serome Bell, 30, is charged with carjacking with a firearm, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, giving a false name to law enforcement, marijuana possession, cocaine possession, fentanyl trafficking, tampering with evidence, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and aggravated fleeing with disregard of safety to persons or property.
On Tuesday, according to the Sheriff’s Office, deputies saw a sedan traveling 95 mph on State Road 100 in Bunnell in Flagler County, initiated a traffic stop and saw multiple baggies being thrown out of the passenger window. Deputies said they later located the baggies and determined that they contained cocaine and fentanyl.
Once the car pulled over, body camera video shows a deputy talking to the passenger, who the Sheriff’s Office said gave a fake name.
The deputy is then seen walking back to his patrol motorcycle to run the passenger’s name. That’s when, according to the Sheriff’s Office, the passenger, who was later identified as Bell, pointed a rifle at the driver, forced him out of the vehicle and led deputies on a chase.
Other law enforcement officers got involved as the chase went from Flagler County into Daytona Beach in Volusia County, with speeds reaching more than 100 mph, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Sheriff Rick Staly said that at one point, he was about to deploy stop sticks to disable the car, but “it just wasn’t the right deployable conditions without risking a lot of citizen cars, sheriff’s cars with flat tires or frankly myself getting runover.”
Eventually, according to the Sheriff’s Office, Bell crashed into two parked cars in the parking lot of a furniture store on International Speedway Boulevard and tried to run off. Moments later, the Sheriff’s Office said, authorities stopped him with a Taser, took him to the ground and detained him.
Bell booked into the Volusia County jail, where he was awaiting transfer to the Flagler County jail as of Tuesday.