MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. — A crash in south Florida sent four people to the hospital and one woman to jail after investigators said she not only caused the accident but threw a snake at deputies.
Martin County Sheriff William Snyder told WPBF that a deputy on a motorcycle tried to pull over a pickup truck Wednesday morning in Indiantown, but as the deputy began the traffic stop, a second pickup truck sped away.
“For reasons we don’t completely understand, that driver then slams on her brake, sending the motor unit over to her right,” Snyder told WPBF. “Once she stopped, she intentionally swerved over and tried to hit his bike. He had to actually jump off to not get hit.”
Snyder told WPTV that the driver of the pickup led deputies on a high-speed chase, ramming another patrol car and crashing into a blue pickup truck with three people inside.
The Martin County Sheriff’s Office posted a video to Facebook showing the blue pickup left upside down by the crash.
HAPPENING NOW One person is in custody after fleeing from a traffic stop, then intentionally hitting an MCSO Motorcycle unit. The suspect vehicle then fled leading deputies on a pursuit. It ended on Warfield Blvd, after the suspect hit another patrol car and a civilian truck with three people inside. When the deputy approached the female suspect, she threw a snake at him. Four people were transported to the hospital with non life threatening injuries. The deputies who were hit by the female suspect driver were not injured. Additional information is being gathered at this time, and will be released later. Parts of Warfield Blvd will be shut down while detectives investigate and the disabled vehicles are removed.
Posted by Martin County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday, May 18, 2022
When deputies approached the suspect’s truck after the crash, the woman threw what appeared to be a live snake at a deputy, WPTV reported.
The snake was made of rubber and was thrown just seconds after the deputy had put away his gun, replacing it with a Taser, WPBF reported.
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“If she had thrown that snake when the gun was out, we may be talking about a police officer involved shooting right now,” Snyder told WPBF.
The woman’s name has not been released.
Snyder told WPBF that all the victims of the crash are expected to recover.
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