Lake County deputy placed on probation after deadly chase

LAKE COUNTY, Fla. — The supervisor of the Street Crimes Unit in the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has been placed on six months’ probation and is not eligible for promotion, deputies announced on Monday.

The supervisor, Cpl. Pickens, took the lead position in a chase involving Mylynda Martinez on May 12. Martinez crashed head-on into another driver, killing herself, her unborn baby and Kimberly King.

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The chase ended on County Road 33 in Mascotte.

Pickens is appealing the sheriff’s office decision, deputies said. He and four other deputies involved have returned to duty, investigators said.

The Lake County Sheriff’s Office also announced Monday that the agency will change its pursuit policy to follow only people suspected of committing a forcible felony, or those who are considered an extreme danger to the public, investigators said.

Read: Lake County internal investigation

The May 12 chase started when Deputy Jones tried to pull over Martinez when she crossed the stop bar at the intersection of Ocklawaha Drive and South Haines Creek Road, investigators said. Jones said Martinez made a sharp left and he thought she was trying to avoid deputies, so Jones began to follow her, investigators said.

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When Jones called in the information involving Martinez, Master Deputy Shawn Lukens said he noticed her vehicle parked at a known drug house. Jones attempted to pull over Martinez, but she wouldn’t stop, so Pickens joined the pursuit, investigators said.

Deputy Sadowski of the Lake County Sheriff’s Office tried to deploy stop sticks, but Martinez avoided them, investigators said.  A Leesburg police officer also deployed stop sticks, but once again, Martinez swerved around them, investigators said.

Martinez headed toward Mascotte with five Lake County deputies pursing her before she hit stop sticks thrown by Mascotte police. She abruptly crashed into King, investigators said.

The pursuit lasted 17 minutes and reached speeds of 63 mph to 123 miles per hour, investigators said.

She eventually crashed into King when she ran over stop sticks thrown by Mascotte police officers.

The King family filed a lawsuit against the sheriff’s office in May.

Up until Monday’s pursuit policy changes, the former policy was for two marked units to follow for traffic and non-violent misdemeanor charges, investigators said.

A Lake County Deputy told investigators during questioning that the Street Crimes Unit “pushes the boundaries” because of things they get involved in, investigators said.  The deputy went on to say he did not feel the pursuit was dangerous.

Contact Myrt Price for more on this story.

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