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Published on Friday December 27, 2002
in the Pensacola News Journal
One suspect dies in incidents on Pensacola, Marianna roads
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper was recuperating in Pensacola on Friday after a routine traffic stop became a near-death experience.
In a separate incident, a second trooper, a Pensacola native, was fired upon Friday near Marianna while chasing a bank robbery suspect.
In the first of the two harrowing encounters in less than a day, six-year veteran Larry Wright was left hanging out the driver's side window of a car when it sped out of the Forest Oaks Plaza parking lot and onto Davis Highway.
He was dragged about 100 yards before he fell onto the middle of the road. He was taken to West Florida Hospital, where he was treated for road rash and released.
"I'm thankful that it wasn't any worse than it was," said Wright, 41, a married father of three. "It's a sharp reminder of how quickly things can go from a minor situation such as a speeding citation to a life-threatening experience. It makes me thankful of the things I have."
Troopers later tracked down the car, its driver and passenger at the Colonial Village Apartments on the 3500 block of Creighton Road.
Steven B. Powell, 26, the suspected driver, was arrested and charged with speeding, driving with a suspended or revoked license, fleeing and attempting to elude and aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer. He remained Friday in Escambia County Jail on $35,000 bond.
Powell's passenger, Bao Tran, 27, of Grand Prarie, Texas, was charged with accessory after the fact. He was released after posting a $10,000 bond.
According to a Highway Patrol report:
The incident began about 8:40 p.m. Thursday, when Wright clocked a 2003 Volkswagen GTI traveling 103 mph north on Interstate 110 near the Hyatt Street overpass. When he tried to pull the car over, the driver exited the interstate at Brent Lane and drove into the parking lot of Food World on Davis Highway.
Off-duty Escambia County Sheriff's investigator Mike Miller saw the attempted stop and joined the pursuit.
Powell stopped in the parking lot, and the two officers got out of their cars and approached. Wright reached through the window to grab the suspect when he hit the gas. He was dragged onto Davis Highway with the car before falling free.
"He could very easily have got caught up under the back wheel and run over," said Lt. Tom Moore, patrol spokesman. "And he could have gotten hit by other traffic. We're very fortunate it turned out like it did."
Miller was not injured.
The second encounter set the sights of a bank robbery suspect on a trooper outside of Marianna.
Sgt. J.D. Johnson, 40, whose father was a longtime trooper in Pensacola, was shot at repeatedly but not hit while chasing a man down a dirt road.
Moore said the 19-year veteran had set up an observational roadblock when he saw a Ford Explorer that fit the description of the suspect's vehicle. When he tried to pull the vehicle over, it sped off. The driver began firing at the trooper's cruiser and hit it at least once, Moore said.
"The suspect then slowed abruptly and was hit by the patrol car," he said. "The Explorer ran off the road, turned around and was facing Johnson head on and the driver kept firing through his windshield."
Johnson, who now lives in Marianna, rammed the Explorer into a ditch. Troopers said the suspect then shot and killed himself. A male passenger was arrested, Moore said.
"It just gives you a different perspective on life. It makes you realize what's important," Johnson said.
Moore, who drove Johnson home, said his friend had an emotional reunion with his family.
"It's unfortunate that somebody died," Moore said. "But he faced the ultimate situation we all dread in law enforcement, where you have to defend your life and that of others and he faced it well. What happened had to happen, but there's a lot of emotions there."