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'I'm a cop': Florida police officer mentions his job after allegedly breezing through traffic stop in an 'erratic and careless' manner and leading deputies on high-speed chase

 
Zachary Morrissey being arrested

Zachary Morrissey is being arrested as seen on a deputy's body-worn camera footage in Volusia County, Florida. (Screengrab via WOFL)

A Florida police officer was recently arrested for running from Florida sheriff's deputies after his speeding, screeching car caught their attention during an entirely different traffic stop, authorities say.

The initial encounter would have been more or less routine on the night in question. Instead, as two deputies finished giving a citation and explaining why stop sign rolling isn't OK, an Altamonte Springs police officer appeared and led them on a high-speed chase.

Zachary Morrissey, 28, stands accused of one count of failure to obey a lawful order, reckless driving, and fleeing or eluding, according to Volusia County Court records reviewed by Law&Crime.

The incident occurred just before midnight on Sept. 17, according to an arrest affidavit filed in the case and obtained by Law&Crime.

"The black sedan was traveling at an extremely high rate of speed and could be heard slamming on its brakes, causing the tires to squelch, approximately 20 yards from deputies," the court document reads.

As the sedan got ever closer, the affidavit alleges, it appeared as if the seemingly out-of-control car was going to collide with one of the Volusia Sheriff's Office patrol vehicles – as the car was in "the center shoulder" and barreling directly toward one deputy's parked vehicle.

The deputies got out of the way, and then the car righted itself "into the proper lane of travel," the affidavit says. The sedan continued coming but slowed down, so the deputies tried to effectuate a second traffic stop "due to the erratic and careless driving behavior."

As one of the deputies shined their flashlight at the windshield to indicate that the car should pull over, the other deputy shouted, "Stop!" twice at the driver, the affidavit said. To no avail. The black car – by then recognizable as a Honda hatchback with a "Navy specialty plate" on the rear – drove past and headed north.

"[D]eputies observed a single white male occupant operating the vehicle, with noticeable tattoos on his forearms," the affidavit says.

Blue lights blazed throughout the initial encounter due to the prior traffic stop, the court document notes, which had yet to conclude when the black sedan arrived and fled. Once one of the deputies finished with that first driver, they left their lights on, called dispatch to report the near miss, and gave chase.

That deputy first took note of the fleeing car heading east, according to the affidavit. The deputy wrote that they had to travel at least 45 mph – in a marked 30-mph zone – to even keep sight of the Honda's taillights, said to be some 150 feet away. Soon enough, the taillights grew smaller and dim, "which is indicative of the vehicle accelerating away … at a high rate of speed," the affidavit says.

Around that time, the deputy wrote, they finally shut off their lights.

The second deputy later caught up with Morrissey at an intersection and pulled him over without incident, according to the affidavit.

"I'm a cop for Altamonte," the driver told the arresting officer as he was handcuffed, according to body-worn camera footage from the VSO obtained by Orlando-based Fox affiliate WOFL.

"You're a cop at Altamonte?" the arresting deputy asks.

"Yes, sir," the suspect replies.

Someone off-camera asks: "He's a cop?"

A fourth voice replies: "Yeah."

The defendant is then secured in the back of a patrol cruiser. The arresting deputy says: "You almost took him out, dude. Both of us."

"You gotta do what you gotta do," comes a reply off-camera.

The officer has since been suspended.

"The incident occurred while he was off duty and driving a personally owned vehicle," the Altamonte Springs Police Department said in a statement obtained by Daytona Beach-based NBC affiliate WESH. "Morrissey was relieved of duty pending the conclusion of Volusia County judicial proceedings and an ASPD Internal Affairs investigation."

Morrissey's arraignment is slated for Oct. 12.

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