Sex offender with warrant out for arrest flees from Polk deputies, swallows bag of meth
Booking image for Darrell Bailey
MULBERRY, Fla. - There was a warrant out for a Mulberry man in Polk County, who failed to register as a sex offender – and deputies finally caught up to him Wednesday.
A Polk County deputy spotted 43-year-old Darrell Bailey with his gray Dodge Ram pickup truck around 5:35 p.m. and attempted to do a traffic stop in a parking lot along Church Avenue in Mulberry.
Deputies said when they activated their patrol cars’ lights and sirens, Bailey made a U-turn, drove through the parking lot and began heading westbound on Shepherd Road. A deputy used the PIT maneuver on the pickup near the intersection of County Line Road, causing the truck to spin.
When Bailey gained control of the truck, he drove toward an occupied patrol car but missed hitting it, according to the sheriff’s office.
When Bailey reached the end of Godwin Street, he drove over a fence, hit a shed and finally stopped. Deputies were able to apprehend him, and they said he admitted to fleeing because he believed there were warrants out for his arrest. Plus, he had meth on him.
Deputies said he told them he swallowed a baggie of meth. They said he was also in possession of Alprazolam and drug paraphernalia.
"This was an epic fail for this guy,” Sheriff Grady Judd said in a statement. “He had a warrant for failing to register as a sex offender, he failed to stop for deputies, he failed at getting away he made a lot of choices today, but failed several times with those choices. We're extremely grateful though, that he failed to hit our deputy with his truck."
Bailey was taken to Bartow Hospital to have him evaluated. He was cleared, and taken to Polk County Jail, deputies said.
He faces several charges including tampering with evidence, breaking a fence and driving without a license.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, Bailey faced a charge of lewd and lascivious molestation on a child in Polk County back in 1998.
In 2015, he was found guilty of failing to register as a sex offender.