HOLT, Fla., Jan. 30, 2020—A Holt man’s short flight from law enforcement ended when he hit a tree here last week.

Cody Dean Brown

Holt resident Cody Dean Brown, 21, was traveling south on Bone Creek Road around 11:30 p.m. when an Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office deputy came up behind him Jan. 24.

According to the arrest report, Brown hit the gas and attempted to run at a “high rate of speed,” exceeding the posted 30 mph speed limit.

The deputy began pursuit with lights and siren.

The chase lasted “for a short period of time,” according to the report, until Brown lost control of his vehicle on a curve and crashed into a tree.

Brown told the deputy he ran because he didn’t know who was behind him.

When asked if he saw and heard the lights and siren, Brown said he kept running because he was afraid of going to jail, according to the report.

Brown was arrested for fleeing to elude law enforcement with lights and siren, a felony offense, as well as misdemeanor driving with a suspended license.

Brown was arrested in June 2019 for probation violation for drugs and in April 2019 for failure to appear for drug-related offenses from a February 2019 arrest. He was also arrested for drug-related offenses in Santa Rosa County in November 2018.

Stephanie Holcombe