HOLMES BEACH – A high-speed chase ended with a suspect being trapped in chain link fencing on a Gulf Drive tennis court, resulting in six criminal charges.
Holmes Beach Police Chief Bill Tokajer said the Aug. 21 incident began when suspect Dominic Garcia, 24, allegedly stole a vehicle in Palmetto before going to a Bradenton residence where he is suspected of beating a woman before leaving and making a wrong turn on Manatee Avenue that took him to Anna Maria Island.
“He was trying to go to Melbourne,” Tokajer said.
In Holmes Beach, Manatee County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Brett Getman spotted the stolen black Ford Expedition and got behind Garcia. That’s when Tokajer said Garcia hit the gas, getting up to an estimated 80 mph before missing a curve on Gulf Drive that sent the vehicle straight into a picket fence and two chain link fences, one of which wrapped around the front end of the vehicle, stopping it on a tennis court at the Martinique condominium complex.
Tokajer said no injuries were reported.
Garcia is charged with domestic battery, battery on a person 65 years of age or older, operation of a motor vehicle without a valid license, two counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving property damage and grand theft of a motor vehicle. He was placed in custody at the Manatee County Jail.
