UPDATE: 2 WOMEN ARRESTED: Have you seen this woman near Levy CR 326, Gulf Hammock/Morris Junction area?
Bonnie Jeanne Gray (left) and Tina Marie Romano (right).
UPDATE: Bonnie Gray apprehended
with associate Tina Romano
According to LCSO Lt. Scott Tummond, Bonnie Jeanne Gray, 31, of Otter Creek, FL was located and taken into custody, along with her associate, Tina Marie Romano, 30, of Winter Garden, FL.
Ms. Romano was arrested near the crime scene, approximately 7 hours after the first call for assistance was announced by Deputy Yanok. Officers tracked Romano through the swampy wooded area for hours, sighting her several times before she was finally taken into custody.
Officers combed the wooded area of Goethe Forest for approximately 12 hours before locating and arresting Gray, near Wolf Arbor Road, within the Goethe Forest.
Gray and Romano were transported to the Levy County Detention Facility.
Gray was charged with 2 counts of aggravated battery of a law enforcement officer, criminal mischief of $1,000 or more, 2 counts of grand theft of $300 or more, but less than $5,000; grand theft of a motor vehicle, 2 counts of resisting arrest without violence, 1 count of resisting an officer with violence, and escape ($1,080,000 bond).
Romano was charged with resisting arrest without violence ($50,000 bond).
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INITIAL INFORMATION:
Levy County, Florida - During the late evening of Tuesday, Sept. 22, at approximately 11:54 pm, Levy County Sheriff's Office Deputy James Yanok responded to the 6400 Block of SE Levy County Road 326, due to the report of a suspicious person.
This location is a remote area in Levy County, located between Morris Junction and Gulf Hammock, which is the same general area where deputies recently took a report of a stolen vehicle, which was recovered in Citrus County.
Deputy Yanok located the suspicious woman who was described by the caller when he arrived on scene. The woman, who was later identified as 30 year-old Bonnie Gray, fled from Deputy Yanok, but he was able to take her into custody and placed her into handcuffs. He placed Ms. Gray into the back seat of his patrol vehicle, and returned to the area where she ran, to seach for other potential suspects in the area.
Meanwhile, Ms. Gray, a slight;y built woman who weighs approximately 100 pounds and is 5'4" in height, managed to slip out from her handcuffs and squeeze through the screen partition from the rear of the patrol vehicle into the driver's seat in the front of the vehicle. Deputy heard the engine of his patrol vehicle rev, and as she sped away in his vehicle, she twice struck Deputy Yanok with his patrol veicle. Ms. Gray crashed the patrol vehicle, a short distance away, and then fled on foot into the Goethe Forest.
Deputy Yanok was transported by ambulance to a local emergency room for treatment of minor injuries, and has since been released.
Personnel from numerous law enforcement agencies were still searching for Ms. Gray on Wednesday afternoon. AGencies included the Florida Fish and Wildlife conservation Commission (FWC), K-9 Units from the Florida Department of Corrections (DOC), and air support from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office (MCSO) Aviation Unit.
When last seen, Gray was barefooted and wearing cut off shorts and a pink tank top. She was not armed at the time of her escape.
Anyone living in this area is asked to immediately report any suspicious activity to the Levy County Sheriff’s Office by phone at 352-486-5111 or 9-1-1.