Crime & Public Safety
Driver strikes multiple Santa Rosa County deputies during vehicle pursuit, crashes into power pole in Midway area
A driver struck and injured multiple Santa Rosa County deputies during a vehicle incident on Tiger Point Boulevard in the Midway area of Santa Rosa County. The sequence began when Midway Fire District personnel were dispatched to Tiger Point Boulevard near Tiger Lane for a report of a man driving through several lawns. While crews were responding, dispatchers received a report that a Santa Rosa County deputy had been struck by a vehicle at that location.
According to Midway Fire District's account, a witness said the driver was operating a U-Haul pickup and fled eastbound toward Gulf Breeze Parkway with deputies in pursuit. Near the intersection with Kell Road the pickup collided with an unmarked Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office vehicle, injuring a second deputy. The pickup continued onto East Bay Boulevard and struck a power pole on a curve, snapping the pole and causing a transformer to land on the truck’s cab.
The driver, identified in the release as 26-year-old John Newell III, exited the pickup and ran toward the bay behind a home, where deputies arrested him. The deputy first struck was transported to Baptist Hospital in Pensacola as a trauma alert; the second deputy was taken to a freestanding emergency room for evaluation. The driver suspect was also transported; officials say the extent of his injuries is unknown.
These are preliminary details as provided by Midway Fire District pending an official release from the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office. No additional information about charges, definitive injury diagnoses, or subsequent investigative steps has been released by the sheriff’s office.
All individuals accused of a crime are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
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All individuals mentioned in criminal allegations are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.