Dash Cam Video Shows FHP Trooper Firing GPS Device at Fleeing Vehicle

By: Josh Rojas, baynews9.com

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Dash cam video captured a Florida Highway Patrol trooper firing a sticky GPS device from his cruiser at a fleeing minivan in Pasco County early Thursday morning. The device helped track the minivan on the Suncoast Parkway, eventually leading to the capture of the driver.

• New Port Richey Police asked for FHP assistance with pursuit
• FHP trooper used StarChase device to track minivan’s course in real time
• Driver Kip Thomas, 26, eventually stopped with stop sticks

According to an FHP report, the New Port Richey Police were chasing a white minivan and requested the trooper’s assistance because the driver was about to leave their jurisdiction. Police said that fleeing driver had already committed felony aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer.

The trooper joined the pursuit at Hicks Road and State Road 52 at 12:29 a.m. in New Port Richey. The trooper said he saw the minivan initially travelling the wrong way on State Road 52 before traveling back into the eastbound lanes.

The trooper said because there were other law enforcement vehicles near his cruiser, it wasn’t safe to attempt a P.I.T. maneuver. Instead, the trooper deployed his StarChase system, which fired a GPS device that stuck onto the minivan near the license plate.

“I got the vehicle with StarChase,” the trooper radioed. “I got the mapping program up on my end. So, I can see real time where he’s going.”

The StarChase device was deployed just in time, because the minivan turned onto a southbound exit ramp and began driving north, the wrong way, on the Suncoast Parkway. At that point, New Port Richey Police and the Pasco Sheriff’s Office units disengaged from the pursuit.

By that time, additional troopers had arrived and they began driving the correct way on the Suncoast Parkway to parallel the fleeing minivan. The driver of that minivan was travelling at about 60 mph, which allowed the first trooper to speed ahead and attempt to deploy stop sticks.

The video shows the trooper has less than 15 seconds once he parks his cruiser to put the stop sticks on the highway in the minivan’s path. The trooper managed to quickly get the stop sticks down, which then punctured the right front tire of the minivan.

“I got him with the stop sticks,” the trooper radioed.

The minivan traveled for another four miles before pulling off onto the road’s grassy shoulder and the driver runs away from the vehicle on foot. A K9 officer eventually finds the suspect, Kip Thomas, 26, hiding on a Spring Hill property.

Thomas was arrested on multiple charges, including aggravated flee to elude, driving on a suspended or revoked license, driving on the wrong side of a divided highway, DUI, armed burglary and possession of meth.

Sergeant Steve Gaskins said the StarChase system has been around for a few years but FHP just recently began using it.

Full story: https://www.baynews9.com/fl/tampa/news/2019/03/21/dash-cam-video-fhp-trooper-starchase-device#

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