WATCH: Missing Florida child recovered after violent traffic stop and high-speed chase
A convicted sex offender was arrested and a missing child recovered after a routine traffic stop erupted into violence, a foot chase and a high-speed pursuit in Florida.
The incident unfolded the morning of Dec. 31 in Flagler County, where sheriff’s deputies stopped a white Ford F-150 on U.S. Highway 1 after a tip from a concerned citizen who reported suspicious behavior.
The driver, identified as 60-year-old Darnell Hairston, was traveling with two juveniles, according to a release from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies soon discovered that one of the juveniles had been reported missing in neighboring St. Johns County and quickly secured the child, 11, in a patrol vehicle.
Moments later, bodycam video shows Hairston suddenly bolting from deputies, stumbling into the road and engaging in a struggle with deputies. Authorities say Hairston attempted to grab a deputy’s firearm before being subdued and arrested.
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Hairston was charged with resisting an officer with violence, attempting to disarm a law enforcement officer, kidnapping and child abuse, officials said. In a second update, the Flagler County Sheriff's Office announced additional charges – including kidnapping and child abuse – against Hairston.
As deputies focused on Hairston, the second juvenile, 15-year-old Junior Bishop, allegedly jumped into the truck and sped away.
Dash camera video captured the teen speeding away from the traffic stop and narrowly missing a deputy standing in the road. Video showed deputies pursuing the vehicle south on U.S. Highway 1.
A high-speed chase began, with Bishop allegedly driving into oncoming traffic and weaving in between lanes before ramming into a deputy’s patrol vehicle.
Both cars were seen crashing into a wooded area and causing the suspect’s vehicle to roll over.
Bishop was taken into custody and charged with aggravated fleeing and eluding, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, reckless driving, driving without a license and resisting an officer without violence. Bishop is expected to be turned over to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice.
During the pursuit, a second deputy crashed into an automotive repair building in Bunnell. Two deputies suffered minor injuries and were treated and released from a local hospital, police said. Bishop was evaluated and not seriously injured, authorities said.
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Hairston was booked into the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility without bond pending a first court appearance. According to the Flagler County Sheriff's Office, Hairston is a registered sexual offender and was released from the Florida Department of Corrections in 2009, where he had been serving a 12-year sentence for three counts of false imprisonment.
He has a lengthy arrest history, including previous arrests for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, burglary with assault or battery, cruelty toward wife, disorderly intoxication, lewd or lascivious offenses committed upon a child, property damage and sexual battery.
Authorities say that following Hairston’s arrest, deputies confirmed that the 11-year-old had been reported missing three days earlier, and he was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
During an interview with authorities, the child said he had been lured to a wooded campsite in Flagler Estates, where Hairston choked him until he lost consciousness. After regaining consciousness, the 11-year-old told detectives, he was threatened with a knife and a gun, tied up with shoelaces and an extension cord, and had duct tape placed over his mouth. He also told detectives that Hairston held him at the campsite for multiple days and made him travel on the floorboard of his truck covered by a blanket.
Deputies said that after the interview with the child, they returned to the campsite and recovered multiple items, including duct tape, video surveillance equipment, and weapons consistent with the child’s statements.
During an interview with Hairston, detectives determined that he knew the boy was missing and endangered, but he could not explain any reason for keeping the child from his parents when he knew that law enforcement was actively searching for him.
On Jan. 2, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Hairston for kidnapping of a child under 13, aggravated child abuse, battery by strangulation, and robbery with a deadly weapon. Detectives served the warrant at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility, where Hairston was already being held on a $125,000 bond for the prior arrest. He is now being held without bond.
Bishop may be facing additional charges once the investigation is concluded, officials said.
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Sheriff Rick Staly said the case remains under investigation, including how the sex offender, the teen suspect and the missing child were connected.
"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," he 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!"
