FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Additional charges have been filed against a registered sex offender who was found traveling in a vehicle with a juvenile who had been previously reported missing, the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office said.
In a release, deputies said they conducted a traffic stop on a Ford F-150 along U.S. Highway 1 near Whiteview Drive after someone called in about “suspicious activity.”
During the traffic stop on Wednesday, deputies found the driver — identified as 60-year-old Darnell Hairston of Hastings, a registered sex offender — as well as two juveniles.
Investigators said they asked the three to get out of the vehicle, but while speaking with them, it was discovered that one of the juveniles had been reported missing out of St. Johns County. The 11-year-old juvenile told deputies they had been kidnapped, feared for their life, and were not safe.
“As deputies were gathering further information, Hairston suddenly fled, running and tripping into the roadway,” the release reads. “After a brief struggle, in which Hairston attempted to grab a deputy’s gun, deputies quickly apprehended him.”
But while deputies were busy catching Hairston, the other juvenile — a 15-year-old from Hastings — got back into the truck and drove off, nearly striking a deputy in the roadway, the sheriff’s office stated.
According to investigators, this kick-started a chase along U.S. 1, which eventually carried over to State Road 100.
“As the vehicle apprehension neared the Putnam County line, a deputy passed Bishop on the left and got in front of his vehicle in an attempt to stop him,” the release continues. “Bishop then briefly entered the eastbound lane into oncoming traffic, then re-entered the westbound lane and purposely rammed into the deputy’s patrol vehicle, causing both vehicles to crash into the wood line and Bishop’s vehicle to roll over.”
During this time, a second deputy lost control of his patrol vehicle and crashed into an auto repair shop in Bunnell, deputies announced.
Once Bishop got out of the crashed truck, though, he was taken into custody. Now, he faces charges of aggravated fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, reckless driving, driving without a license, and resisting an officer without violence.
Hairston faces charges of resisting an officer with violence and attempting to deprive a law enforcement officer of a firearm. On Friday, detectives obtained an arrest warrant charging Hairston with kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon.
The rescued child was taken to a local hospital for medical treatment. During an interview, the child revealed he was lured to a wooded campsite in Flagler Estates, where Hairston choked him until he lost consciousness. After waking, the child said he was threatened with a knife and firearm, tied up with shoelaces and an extension cord, and had duct tape over his mouth. Deputies said Hairston held the child at the campsite for several days and forced him to travel on the floorboard of his truck, covered by a blanket.
Detectives from Flagler and St. Johns counties executed search warrants at Hairston’s vehicle, residence, and the campsite. They recovered duct tape, video surveillance equipment, and weapons matching the child’s account, a news release states.
Interviews with Hairston revealed he knew the child was missing and endangered, but offered no explanation for keeping the child from his parents while law enforcement searched.
“This was a very suspicious incident that is still under investigation by our detectives, but I am thankful that nobody was seriously hurt and that we were able to recover a missing child from this pervert’s grasp,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “I also do not understand why a pervert who was sentenced to 12 years in prison in 2004 was released after only five years in 2009. Clearly, he has not learned anything!”
According to the sheriff’s office, Hairston had been serving a 12-year sentence for three counts of false imprisonment.
Deputies also said he has previous arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary with assault/battery, cruelty toward wife, disorderly intoxication, lewd/lascivious offenses committed upon a child, property damage, and sexual battery.
Investigators stated that Hairston is being held without bond on the new charges, while Bishop will be turned over to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice after being booked.
No additional information has been provided at this time.