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Florida deputies rescued a missing juvenile when they pulled over a man on New Year’s Eve.
The driver, Darnell Hairston, tried to escape during the traffic stop the morning of Wednesday, December 31 along U.S. Highway 1 in Flagler County, which is in northeastern Florida, the county sheriff’s office said in a news release issued that day.
Deputies discovered Hairston, 60, of Hastings, is a registered sex offender, who is now facing criminal charges, according to authorities.
Information on Hairston’s legal representation was not immediately listed in court records.
“This was a very suspicious incident that is still under investigation by our detectives, but I am thankful that nobody was seriously hurt and that we were able to recover a missing child from this pervert’s grasp,” Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly said in a statement.
The incident stems from when deputies stopped Hairston’s truck after a witness called about “suspicious activity” on December 31, the sheriff’s office said.
Inside Hairston’s vehicle, deputies found two minor passengers, according to authorities. After asking Hairston and the minors to get out of the truck, deputies discovered one of the juveniles was considered missing from neighboring St. Johns County. Deputies then put the two minors into a patrol car.
Afterward, authorities said Hairston “suddenly fled, running and tripping into the roadway,” leading to a struggle.
While struggling with deputies, Hairston tried to “grab a deputy’s gun,” the sheriff’s office said.
Footage shared by the agency shows deputies arresting Hairston on the road.
As they apprehended him, the second juvenile who was in Hairston’s truck got in Hairston’s vehicle and drove off, according to the sheriff’s office, leading to a high-speed chase and collision.
The second juvenile, who is a 15-year-old from Hastings, nearly crashed into a deputy, authorities said.
Then, as deputies followed him southbound on the highway, one deputy “passed (him) on the left and got in front of his vehicle in an attempt to stop him,” according to authorities.
“(He) then briefly entered the eastbound lane into oncoming traffic, then re-entered the westbound lane and purposely rammed into the deputy’s patrol vehicle, causing both vehicles to crash into the wood line and (his) vehicle to roll over,” the sheriff’s office said.
During the chase, another deputy “lost control” of his car and crashed into a nearby automotive repair building, according to authorities.
The teen was arrested on charges of aggravated fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, reckless driving, driving without a license, and resisting an officer without violence.
Information on his legal representation was not immediately available.
Hairston, meanwhile, is charged with resisting an officer with violence and attempting to deprive a law enforcement officer of their firearm, the sheriff’s office said.
He is due in court for an arraignment on January 27, court records show.
Deputies are now investigating the possible relationship between Hairston, the 15-year-old and the minor who was missing, according to the agency.
Hairston has an extensive criminal history, the sheriff’s office said. In Florida in 2004, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for three counts of false imprisonment, but was released early in 2009, according to Staly.
Hairston also has “previous arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary with assault or battery, cruelty toward wife, disorderly intoxication, lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon a child, property damage, and sexual battery,” the sheriff’s office said.
