LAKE COUNTY, Fla. – A Florida man stole a truck with a trailer full of full grown palm trees, sped erratically through traffic and attempted to steal another vehicle before a deputy used a Taser to stop him, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.
Deputies said they were called to a gas station on County Road 42 and State Road 19 in Altoona around 4:40 p.m. Wednesday in reference to a truck with an attached trailer full of palm trees being stolen. While canvassing the area, deputies said they found a man, later identified as 24-year-old John Moss, trying to unhook the trailer from the vehicle.
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Moss got back in the vehicle and sped off on State Road 19 when he saw patrol vehicles approaching, according to the report. Deputies said Moss continued to speed and swerve in and out of traffic, even driving toward oncoming vehicles at time, forcing motorists off the highway to avoid a head-on crash.
Umatilla police officers and a deputy deployed stop sticks along State Road 19, which Moss hit, the report said.
Moss slowed down near the intersection of County Road 42 and State Road 19 then hit a tree service truck that was stopped at a red light as he was trying to turn right onto Country Road 42, according to the affidavit.
Deputies said Moss got out of the truck and ran to a vehicle that was stopped at a red light and began pounding on the window and reaching in his waist band. The victim in that case told deputies that he thought Moss was trying to steal his vehicle so he drove off to get away, the report said.
When deputies next spotted Moss, they said he was running through an open field toward a house where a white van was parked in the back yard. Moss got into the driver's seat of the van and was driving in reverse when a deputy stepped on the running board of the van, reached through an open window and deployed his Taser, hitting Moss, according to the affidavit.
The deputy put the van into park and placed Moss under arrest, the report said.
Moss is facing charges of attempted carjacking, attempted grand theft auto, fleeing and eluding and resisting without violence.