Wanted felon arrested after fleeing from deputies and crashing into Floral City home

Citrus County Sheriff's Office (CCSO)

Floral City, Florida - On Tuesday evening, April 23, 2024, Citrus County Sheriff's Office deputies arrested 20 year-old Traveon Jaquaad Samuels of Sumter County, Florida, following a vehicle pursuit that resulted in Samuels crashing his vehicle into a home in Floral City, injuring a person inside the home.

The victim injured as the result of Samuels' vehicle crashing into the home was transported to a hospital. The victim was in stable condition as of Thursday morning, April 25.

The incident began when deputies observed Samuels failing to stop at a stop sign at the intersection of East Gobbler Drive and South Withlapopka Drive in Floral City.

When deputies activated their emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop, Samuels headed in reverse toward the patrol car, then stopped abruptly and made a u-turn, driving away from the patrol car. Samuels fled from deputies, who followed in pursuit, driving recklessly through residential streets at speeds up to 60 mph in a 30 mph speed zone.

Deputies set out a tire deflation device, which punctured the vehicle's front right tire, yet Samuels continued to flee from deputies. He changed lanes into the oncoming lane of traffic, nearly striking another patrol car head-on. Samuels continued fleeing from deputies and eventually drove through a back yard and crashed into the home that had one person inside.

Samuels abandoned his crashed vehicle and ran away, but after a brief foot chase, he was apprehended by deputies and taken into custody.

A police dog, K-9 Airborne, sniffed the exterior of Samuels' vehicle and alerted deputies to the presence of a controlled substance, which lead to a search of his vehicle. During the search, deputies located several bags of illicit narcotics, which included fentanyl, methamphetamine, and heroin.

Samuels was charged with fleeing from and eluding law enforcement personnel with disregard for safety, trafficking in fentanyl, trafficking in methamphetamine, trafficking in heroin, possession of a controlled substance, possession of greater than 20 grams of marijuana, aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, possession of drug paraphernalia, and resisting law enforcement personnel without violence. He was also arrested on a Putnam County, Florida warrant for trafficking in fentanyl and trafficking in methamphetamine. He was incarcerated at the Citrus County Detention Center in Lecanto, Florida, with his bond set at none.

"Samuels has a lengthy criminal history throughout our state and has a habitual disregard for the law," said Citrus County Sheriff Mike Prendergast. "He not only put our deputies' safety in immediate danger, but endangered the entire community through both his reckless driving and trafficking in illicit narcotics. I am proud of our team's quick actions in ensuring this dangerous criminal was removed from our streets. Thankfully, the individual who was injured in this incident is recovering."