An Ocala man who led police on a car and foot chase was arrested on drug and other charges, while his passenger was charged with possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
Deviontae Smith, 22, was charged with possession of methamphetamine, fleeing/eluding police by failing to obey an order to stop, resisting an officer without violence, and a first offense of driving while license suspended.
The Ocala Police report says Smith was behind the wheel and 28-year-old John Ivery was a passenger in a red Nissan that failed to come to a full stop at the stop sign on NW 7th Street approaching NW Martin Luther King Avenue. The officer conducted a traffic stop and Smith pulled over along the 1600 block of NW 1st Street. Smith opened the driver’s side door and exited the vehicle. He was then told multiple times to re-enter the vehicle, which he eventually did. As the officer approached the vehicle, the vehicle fled westbound on NW 1st St and turned north onto NW 16th Terrace, according to the report.
The officer chased the vehicle north on NW 16th Terrace, west on NW 3rd Street, north on NW 19th Avenue, through an empty lot and back onto NW 19th Avenue, where it reached a dead end. Smith then exited the vehicle and fled north on foot, over a railroad track and through a well-worn pathway that leads to the intersection of NW 6th Street and NW 19th Avenue, according to the report.
The officer chased Smith on NW 19th Avenue and through multiple yards before Smith tripped and fell. Smith tried to crawl away, and the officer deployed his Taser twice without success. Smith got back up and started running again before finally complying with the officer’s commands to stop, according to the report.
Ivery didn’t try to flee and was detained at the scene. A search of the car turned up a clear plastic bag containing a white powdery substance on the floorboard of the driver’s seat. The substance field tested positive for methamphetamine, according to the report.
Also found in the search, behind the front passenger seat, was a black book bag containing 29 rounds of 22-gage ammunition inside a cigarillo package. Ivery said the bag was his and he knew there was ammunition inside. He said he was smoking a “joint” in North Roads the previous day when he found the ammunition and picked it up so none of the kids in the area would come in contact with it. He also admitted he is a convicted felon.
Smith and Ivery were taken to the Marion County Jail. Both were released later in the day, Ivery on $10,000 bond and Smith on $5,500 bond. A court date has not been set for either man.