Hit-and-run becomes high-speed pursuit in New Smyrna Beach, troopers say

A trooper investigating a hit-and-run at a New Smyrna Beach RV park wound up in a high-speed pursuit with the suspect, who sped away after returning to the scene, according to the Florida Highway Patrol. FHP responded around 10 a.m. Saturday to Sugar Mill Ruins Travel Park, where it was reported a gray Ford F-150 towing a large camper had crashed into a control box and pole while attempting to leave, according to an arrest report. The Ford then left the scene and ditched the camper in a church's parking lot, yet as the responding trooper worked to obtain information at the RV park, they noted multiple people began to yell about how the suspect vehicle had just returned, the report states. The Ford rapidly reversed and began to travel southbound on Old Mission Road, with the trooper giving chase, according to the report. The pursuit saw the Ford enter oncoming traffic at times, continuing southbound for several miles along Old Mission Road before the Ford entered westbound S.R. 442, then northbound Interstate 95, cutting lanes and traveling at speeds exceeding 110 miles per hour before getting off at S.R. 44, the report states. It was on S.R. 44 that the Ford ran a red light and T-boned another F-150 in a crash, also striking a GMC Yukon carrying two young children, but no injuries were reported among the occupants of those two vehicles, troopers said. From the suspect's truck, pictured at the top of this story, law enforcement made contact with a passenger and removed the driver through the passenger-side door because the other door could no longer be opened, according to the report. Troopers described the suspect — identified as 35-year-old Jonathan Hartman, of Vero Beach — as a 14-time convicted felon. Hartman regained consciousness as soon as he was removed from the vehicle, resisting arrest to the point that a trooper stunned him multiple times in order to place handcuffs on him, the report states. Hartman's alleged combativeness continued at the hospital, where he was eventually sedated and intubated, according to the report. Hartman will face charges of fleeing with disregard of safety to persons or property, DUI, reckless driving, driving with a suspended or revoked license, leaving the scene of a crash involving damage to property and obstruction without violence, the report states.