What started out as a call to investigate a recent alarm at an Ocala church quickly turned into a high-speed chase down Hwy. 484.
Marion County sheriff’s deputies on June 29 were called to Queen of Peace Catholic Church, located at 6455 SW State Road 200, to investigate an alarm. While they were there, members of the sheriff’s Air-1 helicopter crew spotted a vehicle parked behind the church in the grass.
When sheriff’s Lt. Donnie Winston attempted to make contact with the driver of the vehicle, later identified as 22-year-old Roger Andrew Spruill, he initially fled onto SW Hwy. 200. And after refusing to pull over, Spruill lead deputies in a chase down Hwy. 484 toward Dunnellon.
Spruill, of Dunnellon, eventually lost control of his vehicle while trying to turn onto SW 140th Avenue and crashed into a fence and large tree. He was taken into custody and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with fleeing and eluding a law enforcement officer with lights and siren active, operating a motor vehicle without a valid driver’s license and 11 probation violations for failure to appear in court on previous charges.
Spruill, who has been held in the Marion County Jail four times since September 2017, is scheduled to appear in court on July 30 at 9 a.m. to answer to the 13 charges.