BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph Staff Writer
STARKE— A 22-year-old Starke man was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading to intentionally colliding with a Florida Highway Patrol cruiser and forcing the state vehicle to crash into a guardrail.
Corbert Eldell Williams Jr. pleaded no contest to two counts of battery on a law enforcement officer.
According to an arrest report, around 2:40 p.m. on Aug. 20, 2022, Trooper Jacob Bateh and his field training officer: B. Archibald, attempted to stop the defendant’s Impala for speeding in the southbound lanes of Alt- U.S. 301.
“After overtaking the vehicle and manually bursting the sirens with emergency lights active, the Impala was seen swerving within and outside its lane multiple times,” reporting officer Sgt. J.T. Roundtree wrote in an arrest report. “Trooper Bateh continued behind the Impala, now believing there might be some impairment of the driver based off his driving pattern.”
Roundtree wrote that once the defendant cleared traffic, he steered the Impala to the middle of the highway, straddling the center line of the two southbound lanes.
With the troopers following close behind, Williams hit his brakes, causing the Impala’s tires to skid and smoke.
“Trooper Bateh attempted to swerve to the left to avoid rear-ending the Impala,” wrote Roundtree. “The Impala and the marked patrol car lightly sideswiped, causing minor damage to the patrol car. Due to Trooper Bateh’s evasive action and momentum, the FHP Patrol car then collided with the guardrail on the west shoulder of Alt-U.S. 301.”
The defendant continued southbound on the bypass.
Later, Starke police found the Impala abandoned on the bypass’s offramp to State Road 100.
“A perimeter was set up, and Starke PD Sergeant M. Rooney and Sergeant M. Gillick located the suspect in a tree line hiding,” Roundtree wrote. “The Starke (sergeants) located him less than a half mile from his vehicle in a dense tree line near the Pine Forest Apartments. The suspect surrendered on his own accord to the Starke (sergeants).”
While Bradford EMS was treating the defendant, another trooper overheard Williams state that he had only consumed Molly (also known as MDMA or Ecstasy) and didn’t mean any harm.
The defendant added that he didn’t stop for the troopers because he had seen negative media coverage of law enforcement and was afraid to pull over.
