Florida man leads police on crazy chase

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LAUDERHILL, Fla., May 4 (UPI) -- A Florida man faces numerous charges for leading police on a wild, 2-hour chase that ended with the suspect hiding in a stranger's bed, officers said.

Dwayne Dwyer, 19, was charged with grand theft auto, criminal mischief, carrying an electric weapon, resisting an officer, refusing to stop when ordered, driving without headlights, driving without a driver's license and reckless driving for the Wednesday incident, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reported.

Dwyer's escapade began when he was spotted early Wednesday driving a stolen sport utility vehicle in Lauderhill, Broward Sheriff's Deputy Ian Sklar wrote in the police report of the incident.

Sklar said Dwyer fled when police spotted the stolen vehicle and attempted to pull him over.

"Dwyer drove with a willful and wanton disregard for the safety of persons and property," Sklar wrote.

After driving over a log and damaging the SUV, Dwyer put the car in reverse and jumped out before the abandoned vehicle crashed in Sklar's squad car, Sklar said. Then, Dwyer, who was carrying a fake machine gun, fled on foot into a housing project and somehow got on top of the Masjid Al Iman mosque, where police tracked him.

The suspect, still refusing to give up, jumped off the mosque and ran into a neighboring apartment complex. There, he broke into an apartment of a family "all too eager to assist this fleeing felon elude authorities," Sklar wrote.

"The residents at this apartment did not know Dwyer, but that did not deter them from hiding this fugitive," the deputy said. "The residents of this apartment allowed him to take a shower and climb into bed with three small children, pretending he lived there."

Officers found Dwyer in the apartment and when confronted, he "openly and freely admitted his crimes," and confessed to being a gang member, Sklar said.

Dwyer was being held in lieu of bonds totaling more than $15,000.