This evening at approximately 6:26 pm, Deputies with the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office located a stolen vehicle traveling southbound on Hwy 87 in Milton. The vehicle was described as a white Toyota SUV. The driver turned from 87 southbound on to Dogwood Drive. After this turn, Deputies attempted to conduct a traffic stop on this confirmed stolen vehicle out of Escambia County.
After initiating a traffic stop, the driver began to accelerate at an extreme rate of speed. Within seconds, our Deputies cancelled the traffic stop for public safety considerations as per policy. The stolen vehicle continued to pull away and out of sight. Unfortunately, Deputies rolled up on a traffic crash near the First Assembly of God Church on Dogwood Drive, Milton.
The Florida Highway Patrol has taken over the traffic crash investigation. We were advised there was one fatality in the victim vehicle. The four occupants in the stolen vehicle were transported to local area hospitals along with other crash victims.
The Florida Highway Patrol has taken lead on this traffic crash investigation.
