Video released Tuesday shows a Florida shoplifting suspect physically resisting a deputy before fleeing in a vehicle that he then crashed before jumping into a car with a family inside, according to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies said the episode began Monday morning when they were called to a Publix on around 9:30 a.m. about a man, later identified as 27-year-old David Readdean, stealing a Sonicare toothbrush and a dental guard.
Dash and body camera videos from a deputy who arrived at the scene show Readdean arguing with him deputy and refusing to cooperate. “I was not stealing. I didn’t leave with the property, I didn’t leave with the property,” Readdean said. Readdean repeatedly asks if he can get his money as the deputy tells him to put his hand behind his back. The two struggle next to a silver Honda Accord in the store’s parking lot then after about a minute and 45 seconds, both men slam to the ground and the skirmish continues.
Readdean eventually breaks away from the deputy’s grip and into the front seat of the Honda, the video shows. The deputy tries to pull Readdean out of the vehicle, but the suspect was able to speed off, the report said. Deputies said they found two bags of heroin, Readdean’s cellphone and more than $500 in the area where the struggle took place.
The Honda was found a short time later crashed into a palm tree in the yard of a home on Fort Smith Boulevard. Video shows debris strewn about the yard and the car left abandoned with a tree on top of its roof. Witnesses at the scene told deputies that the driver ran after the crash. A short time later, a woman came to Fort Smith Boulevard and told deputies that Readdean jumped into the back seat of her vehicle on top of her 2-year-old and 3-year-old children and told the woman to “just drive, just drive,” the report said.
Deputies said they received information indicating Readdean was hiding at a home in Deltona and he was arrested there at about 7:30 p.m. after a SWAT team was called to the area. He’s facing charges of resisting an officer with violence, battery on a law enforcement officer, escape, carjacking, three counts of kidnapping, possession of heroin and driving without a valid license. His bond is $247,500. (The video is hosted on the source website.) [Source: ClickOrlando]
