DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A police chase in Daytona Beach came to a dramatic end Thursday evening. It began when investigators said they spotted a man wanted for murder, Ian Maddox, driving a maroon car.
The Volusia County Sheriff's Office helicopter followed the vehicle while officers moved in on the ground. Maddox crashed the car in the front yard of a house off Derbyshire Drive and three men got out of it and ran.
Investigators found one man hiding inside a nearby home but the other two, including Maddox, jumped a fence and got away.
"This is a guy that's going to kill to stay free. And it's important that we get our hands on him and get him off the street before somebody else gets killed. Somebody innocent is going to get hurt," said Daytona Beach Police Chief Michael Chitwood.
Maddox is accused of shooting and killing a man Sunday morning at the Circus Bar in Daytona Beach.
"He knows we're looking for him and yet he's got the guts to be out here in the neighborhood right up the street from where he committed a homicide, driving a car, fleeing the police and hopping fences," said Chitwood.
Police arrested 21-year-old Kendrick Hodge who was also in the car. Hodge had a warrant out for his arrest and Chitwood said he is accused of being involved in the theft of several cars from Auto Mall.
"Even though we didn't come up with our murder suspect, we did get a guy who's out there, from all the information we're getting, neck deep in all the stolen cars that are coming from the Auto Mall," said Chitwood.
Marie Gilbert lives in the home and says the car ended up in her front yard.
She says police told her to stay inside while officers searched the area.
"We were inside the house and I heard the big boom," says Gilbert.
"I looked out the window and the only thing I could see was a car trapped between the fence and the home," Gilbert said.
She says she had no clue who police were looking for.
"I'm on edge now, I got everything on lock down."
While Maddox got away police did arrest 21-year-old Hodge, who was hiding nearby.