DAYTONA BEACH, FL – A fleeing driver with a 4-year-old boy and a trafficking amount of fentanyl and methamphetamine in his car was tracked down and arrested while hiding in a vacant house Thursday night in the Daytona Beach area.
According to authorities, Members of the Volusia Sheriff’s Office East Volusia Crime Suppression Team were in the area of Ridgewood and Mason avenues shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday looking for a silver Toyota Camry that had fled from an attempted traffic stop the night prior. When a deputy spotted the car, it took off again, turned off all its lights and fled at high speed.
A Holly Hill police officer spotted the vehicle after the initial deputy lost sight of it, and then found it abandoned in the back yard of 940 Gardenia Drive in Daytona Beach, with the driver’s door open. The officer saw a man yelling “Hurry up!” and banging on the back door of the house, which was locked. The officer drew his Taser and ordered the man to stop, but the suspect was holding the child between himself and the officer. When the door opened from the inside, the suspect pushed the child through and ran inside behind him.
The suspect, who deputies had already identified and recognized as 31-year-old Tyrell J. Jackson, of Daytona Beach, soon ran out the front door and down the street. Deputies followed, and then began searching the area. Ultimately deputies found Jackson hiding under a blanket inside a vacant residence at 967 Gardenia, and took him into custody without incident.
In the car, deputies found a backpack on the driver’s floorboard containing two bricks of heroin/fentanyl along with about 12 grams in powder form, about 161 grams of meth, several MDMA tablets and Acetaminophen and Oxycodone Hydrochloride pills. Also in the bag was Jackson’s wallet with his credit cards and bank receipts. In the driver’s door pocket, there was a plastic bag with about 5 grams of crack cocaine. In the back seat, deputies found a child’s jacket with the child’s name on the tag.
Given that a typical opiate user generally purchases 1/10 gram to 1 gram of heroin/fentanyl at a time, it was calculated that Jackson had anywhere from 223 to 2,234 doses of heroin/fentanyl in his possession. With a typical meth user purchasing 1/2 gram to 1 gram, the total meth doses ranged from 161 to 322.
Jackson was charged with trafficking in fentanyl, trafficking in methamphetamine, possession of cocaine, Oxycodone and MDMA with intent to sell, possession of narcotic paraphernalia, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, child neglect, and driving with a suspended license. A records check revealed he was already out on bond in reference to possession of cocaine, possession of narcotic paraphernalia, resisting an officer with violence, criminal mischief, driving with a suspended license, and giving a false name to law enforcement.
Jackson was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail where he remained held without bond Friday morning.
