Could the man who led police on a high-speed chase through West Melbourne and Palm Bay Tuesday be connected to a rash of burglaries?
Officers from West Melbourne and Palm Bay were concentrated on the streets, looking for anything suspicious, this in light of nearly 40 burglaries over the past several months which we reported on Monday.
That's when they spotted a car matching the description of a suspect vehicle said to be linked to this slew of burglaries. Officers followed and tried to pull the driver over. They said he sped away, nearly striking an unmarked Palm Bay police car, and we're told he also struck two other vehicles along the way. The chase ensued into Palm Bay down Minton Road.
A sheriff's office helicopter lurked overhead assisting officers on the ground.
Officers tried a couple times to deploy stop sticks to no avail. The suspect turned onto Emerson Drive NW, eventually turning onto Glendale Avenue NW where he crashed into a street sign. Officers placed him in cuffs and took him in.
"Absolute disregard for anybody's safety," said West Melbourne Police Lt. Richard Cordeau. "It makes it difficult, but we needed to get this person stopped. Driving like that is a complete hazard to the community.
Linwood Juarez, 27, is the man police said led them on the chase.
Initially investigators thought he might be linked to the rash of home burglaries - the car, a white rental with tinted windows, matches the description of the suspect vehicle in those cases.
However, they said Juarez, of Palm Bay, was not a suspect in the break-ins.