Florida man accused of leading Monroe deputies on 25-mile chase has history of fleeing
Sergio Marquise Flagler, 30, accused of leading Monroe County sheriff’s deputies on a 25-plus-mile car chase Thursday morning, has an arrest record that stretches back more than a decade.
Flagler, who lives north of Orlando, has been locked up more than 20 times since 2011 in his native Seminole County, Florida, court records there show.
He has been jailed three times in Florida since 2017 on charges of fleeing or trying to elude the police.
Monroe Sheriff Brad Freeman said Flagler was at the wheel of a late-model Dodge Challenger speeding — topping 100 mph — when one of his deputies spotted Flagler and tried to pull him over on Interstate 75 shortly before 9 a.m. Thursday.
But the sheriff said Flagler, who was driving with a suspended license, kept on going, racing south down the highway.
The chase began a few miles north of Forsyth and stretched more than 25 miles into Macon on the I-475 bypass near the Eisenhower Parkway interchange. It was there that Flagler allegedly crashed into a pursuing patrol car.
A deputy suffered what were described as “non-life-theatening” injuries and was being treated at a Macon hospital.
Freeman said deputies found “a small amount” of marijuana in Flagler’s Dodge and an open container of alcohol.
Flagler was charged with violating numerous traffic laws, several counts of aggravated assault and fleeing police.