Woman flees DUI checkpoint, crashes into utility pole

Reporter: Morgan Rynor
Published: Updated:
Vehicle collides into a electricity pole. Photo via WINK News.
Vehicle collides into a electricity pole. Photo via WINK News.

Police said Letizcia Bell tried to dodge a DUI check on New Year’s Eve and ended up in a crash.

“I heard tires screeching,” Robert Sporillo said, a North Port resident. “But I didn’t think nothing of it because this street they race up and down all of the time.”

The high-speed chase started in North Port around 9:45 p.m. and ended in Port Charlotte.

The electricity pole the vehicle crashed into. Photo via WINK News.
The electricity pole the vehicle crashed into. Photo via WINK News.

“I heard a high-speed chase coming through, saw the lights, saw a screeching of tires, and heard an impact of something,” said a neighbor who did not want to be identified.

“The car that was turned sideways,” the neighbors said. “I would tell if it was upside down or not because of all the lights that were on there.”

But it did not end there. Bell tried to run from the scene after she crashed. North Port police caught up, tased and then arrested her.

“They have a suspect out of the ground,” the neighbors said. “They were talking to her. She was drunk. She was apologizing for that and they kept asking if anybody else was in the car.”

Police proceeded to search her vehicle. They found a large amount of cocaine and cash inside it. It was enough drugs for her to face a cocaine trafficking charge.

Meanwhile, neighbors had to cut their New Year’s celebrations short because they lost electricity.

“Power came back on at 3 o’clock in the morning,” the neighbors said.

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