An injured 28-year-old Palm Bay man already in custody after leading officers on a chase through Melbourne, tried again to run Saturday while being discharged from the hospital, police said.
Melbourne police officers reported that they saw what they thought was an impaired driver in the area of U.S. 1 and W.H. Jackson Street at about 2:15 a.m.
When they tried to conduct a traffic stop, the driver, later identified as Devin Martinez, sped up and tried to elude the officers, the Melbourne Police Department said.
The officers were able to locate Martinez on Horne Street, but he allegedly drove directly toward their police cruiser in an attempt to ram them, investigators said.
The officers were able to avoid a collision and after chasing Martinez through South Melbourne and northeast Palm Bay, his vehicle broke down, police said.
Martinez is accused of getting out and running down an embankment into the Indian River, where he got into an altercation with the pursuing officers.
Because he had been in a crash, which is what disabled his vehicle, tumbled down the embankment into the river and then fought with the officers, Martinez was taken to Holmes Regional Medical Center for evaluation.
Martinez was discharged from the hospital at about 1:38 p.m., but as he was being wheeled out of the hospital in a wheelchair, he jumped up and tried again to run, investigators said.
Already handcuffed, Martinez was caught by officers after a brief pursuit on foot, the Melbourne Police Department said.
He was booked into the Brevard County Jail on charges of aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, aggravated fleeing and eluding, batter on a law enforcement officer, two counts of resisting an officer without violence, resisting an officer with violence, leaving the scene of a crash, driving while license is suspended with knowledge, attempted escape and violation of probation.
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