POLK COUNTY, Fla. – A judge granted a $100,000 bond on Friday for the driver who took authorities on a pursuit into Orange County on Interstate 4.
Allen White, 42, was found Thursday afternoon at the Orlando Grand Hotel and taken into custody. A judge also said if White posts bond, he must be place on GPS, based on White's criminal history.
Polk County deputies said they received a call from Orange County Sheriff's Office around 4 p.m. to help with the pursuit heading westbound on I-4 in Polk County.
The fleeing vehicle eventually exited I-4 in the Lakeland area, according to officials. Deputies said two passengers, later identified as 31-year-old David Junior Lopez and 18-year-old Jennifer J. Rivera, ran out from the vehicle in the area of Sun Acres and they were both arrested. White then got back onto I-4 and fled eastbound back into Orange County.
Seminole County sheriff's deputies said the car was stolen out of Seminole County. White then stopped at the Orlando Grand Hotel on John Young Parkway, where authorities searched for him.
Jean St. Pierre, of Minneapolis, a guest at the hotel, was forced out.
"I just heard bang, bang, bang, on my door -- looked out, sheriffs with rifles," St. Pierre said.
She stood with other guests for hours, watching from the sidewalk as deputies searched every inch of the hotel for White. He was eventually found in a room on the third floor.
Deputies believe White stole the car in Seminole County and used it to pull off robberies across Central Florida.
"I hear Home Depot, a few electronic stores, basically going in and grabbing stuff," said Jeff Williamson, spokesperson for the Orange County Sheriff's Office.
Guests were let back into the hotel just before 9 p.m.
Allen will face charges related to the stolen vehicle, along with aggravated fleeing to elude and aggravated assault with a motor vehicle on law enforcement. Lopez and Rivera face grand theft and resisting arrest charges.