A teen-age runaway from Arcadia remains in jail today on at least 23 different criminal counts after police say he stole a truck and led authorities on a crazy high-speed chase through the Island last week that left 23 vehicles damaged and the Cortez Bridge closed for about four hours.
According to police, Fernando Sanchez Ibarra, 16, stole the red F-350 from a Bradenton window tinting business then drove it out onto Anna Maria Island, back to the mainland then headed back to the Island with a train of law enforcement vehicles following him. He was finally caught after police used spiked stop sticks to puncture the truck’s tires, and the vehicle got wedged in with other cars the suspect hit on the Cortez Bridge.
There were no serious injuries resulting from the incident.
Ibarra now faces 15 counts of leaving a crash scene with property damage from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office. He will be arraigned April 9, at 8:25 p.m., in Judge Mark Singer’s court.
The city of Bradenton Beach is charging him with hit and run with an accident with property damage and reckless driving with property damage and personal injury for four accidents he caused while being chased through Bradenton.
The charges for the two accidents in Holmes Beach and four accidents in Bradenton Beach were filed in the county’s case against Ibarra.
EYEWITNESSES
Mike Bull, who works at the Sandbar restaurant, was on the Manatee Bridge when Ibarra came across, followed by police.
“There were two cars chasing him, and all I could think was, ‘Why are they doing that?’” Bull said.
Island Sun Distribution Director Bob Alexander, of Holmes Beach, was behind a stopped trolley on East Bay Drive near Walgreens when he saw the truck coming up behind him.
“I saw passengers from the trolley starting to cross the street, and I honked my horn at them,” Alexander said. “They stopped and the truck went past followed by police cars from Bradenton Beach and Holmes Beach. After they passed us they turned right on Manatee Avenue, and I heard one of the people from the trolley say they almost got killed.”
Bradenton Beach Police Chief Sam Speciale and Mayor Bill Shearon were participating in the annual community meeting with Sandpiper Resort residents Tuesday morning when the chase passed by them, headed north toward Holmes Beach.
Speciale said he placed a mic by his portable radio so the audience could listen to the pursuit in progress.
“Just when he was entering our jurisdiction again, Officer (Mike) Bazzell, pulled up in front of him, exited his vehicle, unholstered his firearm and ordered the drive to stop and put his hands up,” Speciale said. “Detective (Lenard) Diaz exited the police department, went up to the bridge, then the person in the truck would not comply with the officer’s instructions, they broke the window, they brought the driver out of the vehicle and then placed him on the ground and into custody.”
“We placed him in custody,” he added. “The Manatee Sheriff’s Office is the one putting the charges on him.”
“We’ve been in pursuits out here before, and we’ve assisted in pursuits, but not of this magnitude – and I’ve been hear 27 years, ” Speciale said. “There was a lot of carnage on that bridge.”
Commissioner Jan Vosburgh was also at the Sandpiper clubhouse.
“I was shocked that this car was going by at what looked like 95 miles per hour, with four or five police cars following it. It was a little bit on the scary side.”
She later left the Island and encountered delays getting back to Bradenton Beach.
“And then I got stuck. I ended up going off the Island, on Manatee Avenue, and it took hours, until 4:30 in the afternoon, until I could get back,” Vosburgh said. “That’s pretty scary stuff. I would have been really scared if I had been on that bridge and saw that car coming toward me.”
Some people questioned why the police failed to raise the three drawbridges simultaneously to keep him from leaving the Island, but Speciale said that could have made things worse.
“If someone had run into the bridge while it was up, the state could be liable,” Speciale said. “Besides, the bridge openings are regulated by the federal government, and it would take a lot of effort to get them to do that.”
Sun correspondent Joe Hendricks contributed to this story.