GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) – An Interstate 75 ramp was blocked in Alachua County Tuesday when a vehicle crashed while being pursued by authorities.
Alachua County Sheriff’s deputies say a car chase ended when the suspect, Jessica Hord, 42, crashed into a semi-truck on the I-75 exit ramp on Williston Road.
Sheriff’s deputies say Hord was the suspect in a carjacking in Gainesville. A woman was accused of forcing a male victim out of his car near the intersection of South Main Street and Fifth Avenue.
Deputies later spotted the car driving recklessly and hitting other vehicles when they attempted to pull the car over.
“The BMW had struck several vehicles. [The deputy] describes the vehicle as going airborne, goes over the median, and begins driving westbound in the eastbound lanes of travel,” said Captain Chris Sims, a public information officer with ASO.
The chase briefly paused when the deputy noticed a school zone, but continued his pursuit when they got a call that Gainesville police were searching for the same driver.
Deputies say Hord drove down Williston Road, over the median near the off-ramp, and collided with a Fed-Ex branded semi-truck on the exit ramp.
Drivers were are asked to avoid the area as authorities investigate the incident. The scene was cleared at 3:15 p.m.
“You see it all the time on the news and everything. Everybody’s kind of used to hearing about things like this, so it’s not a shocking thing,” said driver Riley Speak. “It’s almost normal now adays.”
The carjacking suspect was taken to the hospital for treatment of broken bones. No one else was seriously harmed.
Hord has a previous criminal history. She was released from the Florida Department of Corrections on drug charges February 1. Previously, Hord was sentenced in January 2022 and served a year for grand theft of a motor vehicle.
Hord is booked into the Alachua County jail, but no charges are listed as of this publication.
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source: wcjb
