1-year-old discovered in the backseat after a high-speed chase in Marion County
By: -----
Marion County, FL - Deputies found a 1-year-old in the backseat of a car involved in a high-speed chase in Marion County that ended in the arrest of 24-year-old Jordan Skeene.
Skeene, a convicted felon, attempted to flee from law enforcement on June 27, hitting mailboxes, plowing through fences, spinning out and endangering a child in the backseat.
The deputy's patrol cruiser captured the chase on video. The same deputy's body camera recorded Skeene crashing the vehicle, fleeing on foot and later getting arrested.
It started out with a traffic stop. According to deputies, the car had tinted windows and parts of the license plate were not visible.
At first, Skeene did pull into a parking lot, appearing as if he was going to comply. Shortly after, he reversed his vehicle into the deputies' car, pulled out of the spot and the chase began.
"I do believe he was trying to run me over at one point," Deputy Michael Stringer said over his radio, as seen on body camera footage.
It took a PIT maneuver done by deputies to bring his car to a halt. Then, the foot chase began.
Skeene was arrested shortly after by the Marion County Sheriff's Office on at least seven charges, including child endangerment and violating his probation.
After fleeing law enforcement in March of 2024, Skeene was arrested, and his probation wasn't set to be up until March of 2027.
Once Skeene had been placed in handcuffs, deputies began a search of the vehicle.
"One of the deputies looks into the vehicle, and realizes there is a child ... in that car ... a small child ... the whole time ... had been in the car," Lt. Paul Bloom of MCSO said.
In the car, deputies said they found a possible motivation for Skeene to have wanted to flee from law enforcement. There was marijuana and a gun.
"Not only are these deputies, but these deputies are fathers," Bloom said. "This was the pinnacle of selfishness to put this child in such danger just to get away from the cops."
The child is now safe with her mother.