PALATKA, Fla. – A Palatka man faces multiple felony and misdemeanor charges after police said he drove a pickup truck onto a crowded block party, struck bystanders and patrol vehicles, and fled the scene of numerous crashes, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Lazayeus Leshawn Bartley, 36, of Palatka, was arrested after the May 9 incident at a block party at North 20th Street and Eagle Street, the affidavit says. Bartley was charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding, multiple counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and 14 counts of hit-and-run.
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Police say trouble began about 7:38 p.m., when a woman flagged down officers and said Bartley had threatened her with a firearm. Officers separated the parties after witnesses gave conflicting accounts. About 20 minutes later, the woman told officers Bartley had pistol-whipped her. Bartley was sitting in the driver’s seat of a maroon 2017 Chevrolet pickup when he shut and locked the door and drove away as an officer approached, the affidavit says.
Officers followed the truck onto a nearby bike path. The affidavit describes the truck exiting the path onto an empty lot behind a dispensary, where the driver “did donuts” — spinning the vehicle in circles — before re-entering traffic. Officer D. Dao activated lights and siren to stop the truck, and the driver then drove onto U.S. 17 northbound in the southbound lane, the affidavit says, traveling in the wrong direction for roughly 2,000 feet.
While Bartley continued through residential streets, police say it struck a mailbox and yard ornaments and then accelerated at a high rate of speed directly at Officer Dao’s patrol vehicle. The pickup rammed the front of the patrol car, disabling it and trapping the officer inside; the officer escaped through the passenger side after the crash, the affidavit states.
The truck kept moving, spinning through yards and finally returning toward the block party. As it approached the intersection of Eagle Street and North 20th Street — crowded with vehicles and people — Lt. D. Johnson ordered Bartley to stop.
When he didn’t comply, the report says Johnson fired rounds into the driver’s side of the truck. Officer E. Roberts fired additional rounds from the passenger side as the vehicle struck tents and a tree, pinning several women between the truck and the tree, the report says.
Bartley exited the vehicle and was taken into custody at the scene and later transported to Orange Park Medical Center, the affidavit says. Several people injured in the incident were treated at HCA Putnam Hospital. The Palatka Police Department’s Criminal Investigation Unit and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement were called to the scene.
A search warrant executed on the pickup turned up DNA evidence, projectiles and a knife, the affidavit states. Authorities say some counts in court records list no bond; the investigation remains active.
Bartley is due back in court in July.