Finding love in this crazy world is hard enough. First dates can often range from awkward meet-cutes, to near-disasters, to having a perfect evening. However, one woman in Florida may think twice about swiping right after her latest first date decided to flee from police when he was pulled over for a tag violation.
According to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, deputies attempted to make a traffic stop on Thursday in Palm Coast, Florida of a gray Dodge Charger. The driver initially pulled over near a church, but as deputies then fled, according to the arrest report. Deputies gave chase with their lights and sirens blazing, pursuing the vehicle onto U.S. Highway 1. Seeking to stop the chase as soon as possible, deputies deployed "stop-sticks," which hit the tires, but the car was able to keep going.
The chase ended after deputies discovered the vehicle and a woman who was standing behind the Dodge Charger, but the driver was nowhere to be found.
The woman informed deputies she'd been along for the ride and that she'd met the Orlando-area man on an online dating site and had agreed to go to Denny's before heading back to her house. When her date was pulled over for a tag violation, the date reportedly told the woman that he'd go to jail if he were caught and decided to flee the deputies anyway. The woman told her date to stop for police, but he refused because he said he would go to jail.
"They were going to Denny's in the middle of the night. She didn't really know his last name. She knew him by two different first names," Flagler County Sheriff's Office Chief Chris Sepe said.
She told deputies her date had gone by "Craig and Mike" online.
"She asked him several times to pull the car over, (said) that she had a valid driver's license, she would drive the car and he just kept saying that he 'Was going to go to jail, go to jail," Sepe said. "So, he was exceeding the speed limit driving very erratically."
The man disappeared into some nearby woods and has not been caught. Investigators believe the suspect was running because of something more sinister than just a suspended license. An air unit was deployed to look for the suspect without success.
The investigation is on-going, police said.