Car theft suspect, officer hurt during high-speed chase, Melbourne police say

MELBOURNE, Fla. — Witnesses to a car chase Thursday morning described the scene like something out of the movies as the driver of a stolen car whizzed in and out of traffic across four jurisdictions, authorities said.

The car, a white Ford Mustang, was stolen Wednesday night in Rockledge, police said.

The car theft suspect, Jonathan Davis, 34, was spotted by police at about 11:30 p.m., but police determined that a chase in the dark would have been too dangerous, so they did not pursue him.

The car was spotted again Thursday morning at a Home Depot in Sebastian, but when police tried to approach, the driver sped away, investigators said.

As the Mustang approached Micco, it nearly ran another driver off the road, police said.

The woman in the other car, Ann Barbera, called 911 and tried to follow Davis but told officers that she couldn’t keep up.

“It was like something you’d see in the movies,” she said. “He would just pause and gun it up so fast into the oncoming traffic until there was a car right in front of him, and then zip back over into the opposite lanes.”

Police in Palm Bay spotted Davis, and when he wouldn’t stop, they chased him, investigators said.

As the Mustang approached Melbourne, police there deployed stop sticks to disable the car.

The car hit the deterrents but kept going and nearly ran another vehicle off the road, police said.

“I continued past Malabar Road toward Port Malabar. The next thing I know is I hear this screech. Looking in my rear view, I see a Mustang with its ass-end in the air. I punched the gas as fast as I could to get out of the way. He almost nailed me,” said witness David Gray.

A pursuing officer was injured when he spun out trying to avoid the stop sticks during the pursuit, investigators said.

Davis continued to drive in and out of traffic, reaching speeds of more than 100 mph at times and driving through a residential neighborhood, officers said.

An officer was able to get close enough to do a PIT maneuver and stop the Mustang, but when police ordered Davis out of the car, he refused to move, investigators said.

They had to break a window on the car and drag Davis out after using a stun gun on him, officers said.

Davis was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries he suffered during the chase and forced crash, police said.

Police told Channel 9 when they arrested Davis he told them, “I guess I'm going back to jail.”

Neither his nor the injured officer’s conditions were available.

Davis has an arrest history that dated back to 1999.

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