A Dunnellon man found himself behind bars recently after he sped away from a Marion County sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop and eventually had to be tased.
The deputy spotted 23-year-old David Andrew Johnson in the parking lot of the Walmart at 9570 S.W. Hwy. 200 and discovered that his vehicle had an unregistered temporary license tag on it. The deputy advised Johnson, who had provided a false name, not to drive the vehicle, a sheriff’s office report states.
A short time later, the deputy observed the vehicle go past him and conducted a traffic stop. The deputy searched for the name Johnson had provided him with and the photo that came up didn’t match his appearance. When confronted about the discrepancy, Johnson sped away, the report says.
Deputies initiated a pursuit and that eventually came to an end when a deputy conducted a PIT maneuver to disable Johnson’s vehicle. He attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended a short distance away when a deputy deployed his Taser. Johnson told deputies he ran from them because he had an active aggravated arson warrant out of Ohio, the report says.
Deputies searched Johnson’s vehicle and found methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia, the report says. He was then placed under arrest and transported to the Marion County Jail, where he was charged with giving false identification to a law enforcement officer, possession and/or use of drug equipment, fleeing/eluding a law enforcement officer with lights and siren active, resisting an officer without violence and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription. He was being held on $11,000 bond and is due in court June 15 at 9 a.m., jail records show.