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Man's 80-MPH Trip On Motorcycle Ends With Crash

Posted: 12:41 pm EST November 9, 2005

A suspect used a stolen motorcycle to try and escape from Brevard County deputies. A sheriff's helicopter followed the high-speed attempt through three cities, capturing it all on video.

It started in Malabar when police were called to check on the man. That's where he jumped on the motorcycle. He eventually got on the 192 bridge and into Indialantic, where he crashed.

Sheriff's deputies were called to a wooded area south of Malabar Road by the man's family. They were concerned he might be hurt. But when deputies found him, investigators said, he was already on a stolen motorcycle and had earlier armed himself for a confrontation.

Brevard County sheriff deputies said they didn't know what was going through 19-year-old Cody Russell's head, but they could see he wasn't going to stop. Weaving in between traffic, investigators said, he raced a stolen motorcycle toward downtown Melbourne.

Deputies asked patrol cars to stay back.

Investigators said Russell's family called authorities after he had disappeared in a wooded area, fearful he was hurt. Deputies said he broke into a stranger's home while the owner was at work and armed himself, at one point positioning guns he found inside the home in what deputies described as "strategic locations" in case their was a confrontation with authorities.

But when deputies found him, they said, he sped out of the garage on a stolen bike. The helicopter followed Russell to Indialantic, as he raced over the Indian River Lagoon on the shoulder of the bridge.

When he turned into a residential neighborhood, he lost control, sliding the bike into a pile of debris and landing on the grass.

Deputies said he was slightly injured, but lucky he didn't kill anyone.

"He endangered a lot of folks, including himself, and we are not sure what the cause was of this is. Obviously, he wasn't thinking correctly," said Lt. John McKenzie, Brevard County Sheriff's Office.

Russell was taken to the hospital and is under guard. He faces charges of armed burglary, grand theft auto and, for his race through three cities, he could receive a number of traffic tickets.

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