JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A driver was taken into custody Thursday morning after leading a trooper on a pursuit and firing shots at the trooper, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
FHP received a call shortly before 12:50 a.m. about a car speeding, cutting in and out of traffic, and stopping on northbound Interstate 95, according to a news release from the Highway Patrol. An arrest report shows the car matched a previous BOLO (be on the lookout) of a reckless Dodge Charger from St. Johns County.
A trooper located the vehicle stopped on northbound I-95 on the Fuller Warren Bridge, the Highway Patrol said.
The arrest report notes that when the trooper approached the driver, he appeared flushed, fidgety and talkative, and his speech appeared to be slurred. The trooper also said that the driver’s New York license was expired and that the car didn’t have plates. The report states Carley told the trooper that he was traveling from Miami to New Jersey and that he thought he was two hours south of Charlotte, North Carolina.
When the trooper told the driver he was being detained, he refused and sped off, the arrest report shows. The trooper then pursued the vehicle, FHP said. During the pursuit, according to the arrest report, the driver deactivated his headlights while reaching speeds of 120 mph.
From about 8 p.m. Wednesday to 1 a.m. Thursday, it appears he recorded some of his journey on cellphone video from behind the wheel of his car and posted it to social media, showing the odometer at close to 120 mph.
At one point, the vehicle came to a sudden stop on the roadway, and as the trooper came to a stop, the driver of the vehicle fired several gunshots toward the trooper, according to FHP.
With help from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the vehicle was intercepted as the driver exited onto Busch Drive. According to the arrest report, officers pursued the Charger until the driver of the vehicle lost control and struck a light pole on Zoo Parkway and Eastport Road.
The driver, identified as 32-year-old Daryell Carley of Miami, was taken into custody, FHP said.
A News4JAX viewer said he saw dozens of vehicles pursuing the car.
“The FHP vehicles told me that like something major happened,” he said.
Law enforcement officers removed what look like clothes and bags from the trunk of the crashed car. According to FHP spokesperson Master Sgt. Dylan Bryan, investigators found felony amounts of marijuana on the driver and a white powdery substance suspected to be cocaine or fentanyl. Also found, he said, was a gun.
“We do have the weapon, and it was identified as a stolen .44 Magnum handgun revolver,” Bryan said.
Carley faces about a dozen charges, including attempted murder, shooting at a car, drug possession and DUI, according to police records.
One of the arresting officers reported that Carley had a hard time keeping a conversation and would talk wildly off-topic—veering from appearing normal to yelling, screaming, crying, and many times talking as different characters. Law enforcement said he appeared not to grasp what had just happened.
Records show Carley was not booked into the Duval County jail, but it is not clear where he is being held.
Bryan said that no one was hit and that there were no reported injuries.
“All parties involved are extremely lucky,” Bryan said.