A suicidal man that prompted a vehicle pursuit was killed in a crash Wednesday afternoon near Winter Haven.
- Suicidal man killed while in pursuit from deputies
- Man rammed two vehicles, injuring one person on Hwy 27
- Man taken to LRHMC, later pronounced dead
According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, deputies received a call Wednesday morning about a suicidal person in Winter Haven. When deputies located the man a short time later, sitting in his pick up truck, he drove off southbound on U.S. 27.
While fleeing from deputies, he slammed his truck into two separate vehicles. One person was injured and had to be taken to an area hospital. That person's condition is unknown.
Deputies then used a pit (precision immobilization technique) maneuver on the truck, causing the vehicle to spin off the road and rolled over. The driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected.
"Our deputies had a choice. Do you let him flee and ram cars and kill people, knowing that he wants to die and doesn’t care, or do you stop him? And we stopped him," said Polk Sheriff Grady Judd. "And all would’ve been well if he was wearing his seatbelt. But he wasn’t."
The driver was flown to Lakeland Regional Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
“It could’ve been a lot worse," said Judd. "U.S. highway 27 is bumper to bumper, six lanes. We were able to get here and stop his reckless attempt at committing suicide and killing other people."
The Sheriff's Office has not released the man's name or any other details of the incident.