A man was arrested after he assaulted his taxi driver, stole the car, and then crashed it into a light pole on Manatee Avenue early Thursday morning, according to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office.
Around 12:18 a.m., 26-year-old Leo Paul Bradley punched a taxi driver because Bradley refused to pay in advance for a trip from Bradenton to Tampa.
Deputies said Bradley knocked the driver to the ground and stole the vehicle in the 3500 block of 1st Street West. Minutes later, deputies spotted the stolen car fleeing eastbound on Manatee Avenue West.
Deputies began a pursuit when Bradley switched directions heading west toward Anna Maria Island. He then hit a deputy’s patrol vehicle and nearly collided with oncoming traffic as he swerved into the opposite lanes.
While “driving erratically” to the 6700 block of Manatee Avenue West, Bradley hit a light pole and knocked it down, before striking another light pole and stopping in a ditch. The vehicle began sparking and eventually caught on fire.
Local fire crews and EMS got Bradley out of the burning car and took him to a nearby hospital for non-life-threatening injuries. As of this report, he is still hospitalized.
Bradley was arrested for battery, motor vehicle theft, an accident involving a vehicle, and aggravated fleeing with damage.
The pursuit was nearly 20 miles long and lasted 17 minutes. No deputies were injured.
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Source: wfla
