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Name Not Disclosed

Age : 39

Gender : Male

Race : Latino/a/e

Date : 08/26/2024

Location : U.S. Highway 19 near County Road 347, approximately five miles south of Chiefland

City : Chiefland

County : Levy

State : Florida

Agency : Florida Highway Patrol; Levy County Sheriff’s Office

Officer(s) :Justin Gitto, Michael McKinstry, Sergio Pearce; Levy County deputies Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/26/2024, the Florida Highway Patrol became involved after the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office requested assistance locating a man wanted in connection with the armed carjacking of an Uber driver near Dade City. FHP troopers located the vehicle traveling north toward Levy County. Levy County Sheriff’s Office reporting stated that troopers attempted to stop the 39-year-old Latino driver while he was traveling through Crystal River on U.S. Highway 19 and that he continued driving north while police pursued. Levy County deputies joined the pursuit when the vehicle entered Levy County.
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Levy County deputies deployed Stop Sticks on U.S. 19 in the Lebanon Station area, but the driver avoided them. FHP later identified Troopers Justin Gitto, Michael McKinstry and Sergio Pearce as the troopers directly involved in the pursuit. According to FHP, Gitto performed a PIT maneuver against the vehicle, but the driver regained control and continued north.
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FHP alleged that the driver then fired multiple shots toward Gitto's patrol vehicle and that gunfire struck the patrol car. Gitto fired through the windshield of his moving patrol vehicle toward the pursued vehicle. After briefly assessing himself following the gunfire, Gitto resumed the pursuit.
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McKinstry and Pearce moved to the front of the pursuit. Levy County deputies made a second attempt to deploy Stop Sticks in Otter Creek, which the driver also avoided. Police alleged that the driver continued firing toward pursuing troopers as vehicles traveled north on U.S. 19. The pursuit reached speeds of approximately 120 mph.
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FHP reported that McKinstry intentionally struck the pursued vehicle in another effort to stop it, but the driver maintained control and continued. Gitto subsequently moved back to the front of the pursuit. According to FHP, the driver then began traveling on the wrong side of the divided highway toward oncoming traffic.
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FHP stated that Gitto again fired his weapon at the vehicle while both vehicles were moving. Shortly afterward, the pursued vehicle left U.S. 19 near County Road 347, overturned and came to rest along the wooded roadside approximately five miles south of Chiefland. The driver died at the scene. Initial law-enforcement reporting attributed his death to injuries from the crash.
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The later FHP account substantially expanded the original public description of the encounter. The initial Levy County release disclosed two unsuccessful Stop Stick deployments, speeds reaching approximately 120 mph and an exchange of gunfire, but did not disclose that Gitto had performed a PIT maneuver, that McKinstry intentionally struck the vehicle, that the driver traveled wrong-way into opposing traffic, or that Gitto fired at the vehicle shortly before it left the roadway and overturned.
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Because police discharged firearms during the pursuit, the Florida Highway Patrol and Levy County Sheriff’s Office asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to assist with the investigation. The day after the death, FHP initially told a reporter that it had no record of responding to a Levy County fatality on August 26. FHP subsequently acknowledged the records request, referred it to Troop B, and stated that the requested records were part of an active criminal investigation and temporarily exempt from disclosure.
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FHP subsequently selected Gitto, McKinstry and Pearce as its co-recipients of the August 2024 Trooper of the Month award for their actions during this pursuit. FHP also awarded Gitto its Medal of Valor for the encounter. The agency's award narrative provided the more detailed account of the two vehicle-contact attempts, Gitto firing through his windshield, the wrong-way driving and Gitto's additional gunfire shortly before the fatal rollover.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Trooper Sergio Pearce was previously disciplined by the Florida Highway Patrol in connection with the Donna Watts records-access controversy. According to allegations in Watts' federal civil-rights lawsuit that incorporated the results of FHP's internal investigation, Pearce accessed Watts' driver's-license information three times on October 29, 2011 without an official law-enforcement purpose. FHP determined that the accesses lacked an official purpose and issued Pearce a written reprimand. Watts was the FHP trooper who became the subject of widespread unauthorized database searches by law-enforcement personnel after she arrested an off-duty Miami police officer for reckless driving.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://levyso.com/pursuit-on-us-19-ends-in-fatality/
https://www.mainstreetdailynews.com/crime/high-speed-pursuit-in-levy-county-ends-with-fatal-crash
https://352today.com/news/257752-chase-involving-levy-county-deputies-ends-in-fatal-wreck/
https://www.wcjb.com/2024/08/27/carjacking-suspect-dies-high-speed-chase-levy-county/
https://www.flhsmv.gov/florida-highway-patrol/member-recognition/trooper-of-the-month/2024-trooper-of-the-month/
https://www.flhsmv.gov/florida-highway-patrol/member-recognition/medal-of-valor-award/trooper-justin-gitto/
https://www.flhsmv.gov/florida-highway-patrol/member-recognition/silver-star-award/troopers-michael-mckinstry-and-sergio-pearce/
https://hardisoninkarchive.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/8-27-24-gunfire-reportedly-exchanged-in-vehicle-chase.pdf
https://fightgangstalking.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/donna-watts-complaint.pdf