Two people taken into custody after suspicious U-Haul fled deputies and was stopped on A1A
By: -----
Flagler County, FL - A man and a woman are in the Flagler County Sheriff’s custody this morning after they attempted to flee aboard a U-Haul truck on State Road A1A in Flagler Beach.
The couple–later identified as May Ling Ip, 48, and a 40-yearold man, both of Gainesville–defied law enforcement for a time, refusing to exit the truck, until less-lethal munitions were used and a K-9 eventually apprehended both. Though Flagler Beach residents reported gunshots, there were none.
Acting Flagler Beach Police Chief Lance Blanchette said his agency got word of a suspicious truck heading south on A1A after it had been spotted by sheriff’s deputies elsewhere in the county. “We got word of it headed southbound on A1A and one of my guys actually stop-sticked it,” Blanchette said.
That stopped the truck, a few blocks south of the Aliki condominiums, near North 15th Street. Sheriff’s deputies arrived at the scene.
“The two occupants inside would not cooperate, would not come out,” Sheriff Rick Staly said, “and deputies on the scene noticed they were watching everything deputies were doing by looking in their mirrors. So deputies deployed less-lethal munitions to shatter the mirrors so they couldn’t see what they were doing, and it was safer for our deputies.”
The agency’s BearCat vehicle was deployed, preventing the truck from fleeing. The standoff lasted over an hour. Tear gas was fired into the cab of the truck. “They still would not comply,” the sheriff said. “The female driver then fled on foot and was apprehended by a K-9 unit.” She ended up needing medical attention “because after the dog apprehended her, she tried to fight the dog, which is not a very smart thing to do.”
The woman was trying to drag the dog down one of the walkovers toward the ocean, Staly said. “Fortunately, she was apprehended before she could do that. But the best response actually is to give up and follow the commands to begin with so we don’t have to use the K-9. You’re not going to outrun a dog, and all you’re going to do is get a dog bite.”
Flagler County Fire Rescue paramedics attended to the woman.
Meanwhile, the male passenger continued to refuse to comply with deputies’ commands and exit the truck, and continued to refuse to show his hands, the sheriff said. So the police dog was sent in after him, too. The man gave up.
Staly explained why some residents thought they’d heard gunshots: “We have less lethal munitions. Now when you send that to your target, depending on which one you’re using, it’s going to sound like a lethal round, but it’s not a lethal bullet. So the reports that someone was shot is not accurate, and the only thing we struck were the mirrors to protect the deputies.”
Some drugs were found in the truck, but as the case remains under investigation, little additional information was released, including such things as the origin of the truck–which, as of now, had not been reported stolen–the identities of the two individuals, or what else they were hauling.