WATCH: Gunman leads deputies on wild chase through The Villages

Sky 6 captures wild arrest

SUMTER COUNTY, Fla. – An armed robbery suspect in The Villages led Sumter County sheriff's deputies on a slow-speed chase, eventually driving through a backyard gate and into an open field before his arrest.

Sumter County Sheriff's Office officials said deputies pursued an SUV they suspected was being driven by a masked gunman who robbed the Belle Glade Country Club manager early Tuesday and was involved in a SWAT team standoff in a nearby home.

Deputies later identified the robbery suspect as 33-year-old Brian Davis. 

The accused gunman suffered minor injuries during a struggle with the club manager for the night deposit bag and ran to the home of his girlfriend's family around 1 a.m., deputies said. The man had been armed and barricaded at a home in The Village of Belle Glade since early Tuesday.

"He was telling us that he was not going back to jail or prison," Sumter County Sheriff's Office Lt. Robert Siemer said.

Just before noon, a white Jeep SUV was seen on Sky 6 aerial helicopter video traveling through The Villages while being followed by several Sheriff's Office vehicles.

Deputies said before Davis fled, the Jeep's tires went over stop sticks they had placed outside the house and that all of the tires were flattened, limiting the chase speed to 40 mph to 60 mph.

The Jeep weaved in and out of traffic, coming close to clipping cyclists and narrowly avoiding a head-on crash with another vehicle.

Sky 6 video showed a deputy trying to stop the driver, but the Jeep continued on plowing through a barbwire fence and through a gate and into an open, grassy area.

When the Jeep finally slowed, deputies were able to stop Davis by surrounding the SUV with their cruisers. Sky 6 video showed deputies swarm the Jeep and pull the suspect out the driver's side window. Davis held onto the steering wheel to avoid being pulled out by multiple deputies, but was eventually arrested in Lake County.

"I saw him in a white SUV go through the gate and come around this way and out. Then SWAT and cops and everybody else," said witness Debra Mabrey. 

Deputies said several rounds were fired during the chase, but the suspect was not hit. No deputies were injured during the pursuit, but multiple Sheriff's Office cruisers were damaged, officials said.

According to Florida Department of Corrections records, Davis was sentenced in 2011 to one year in jail for grand theft, burglary and driving with a suspended license. He was arrested in 2016 for allegedly violating his probation and a moving traffic violation, and last year on battery and disorderly intoxication charges, records show.

Fred Karimiour owns the country club where the armed robbery happened. He said he knows the suspect too. He said Davis worked for him a while ago at a different country club, but he was fired two years ago.

"The manager begged for his life and said 'You know my kid. You know my family. Why would you do this?' He said, 'I can’t believe you did this, I can’t believe you took my mask off,'" said Karimiour of what happened when Davis allegedly tried to take the club's cash deposit.

Watch the video above to see the chase. There is no audio.


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