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on Wednesday, August 24, 2005<BR> in the Citrus County Chronicle <BR><BR> <h3 align="center"> Deputies testify in chase trial </h3><em> </em> <p align="justify">Detective Matt Taylor testified on Tuesday at the Citrus County Courthouse in Inverness about joining a high-speed chase near Inglis last year that investigators said began with the fatal crash of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper in Columbia County, describing a pursuit he said reached high speeds and forced other cars off the road. <p align="justify">Taylor, a Citrus County sheriff's deputy at the time of the April 24 chase, became the lead patrol car in the pursuit on U.S. 19 when it crossed over a barge canal and into the county. The chase ended, he said, when the purple Dodge Neon he was pursuing crashed into a beige car stopped in traffic at the intersection of County Road 486 and State Road 44. <p align="justify">Driving his Ford Crown Victoria patrol car with fellow deputy Dan Slingerland in the passenger seat, Taylor said he parked about 20 feet behind the car, getting ready to apprehend the driver. <p align="justify">"I looked at Slingerland; he's starting to take his seatbelt off. I look back up and I see the reverse lights come on. I said,  wait!' " Taylor said, adding he had just enough time to brace for impact as the car rammed into his car, jamming his shoulder. <p align="justify">Taylor was one of several witnesses to testify for the state in the trial of Gregory Hampton Platt, 32, of Naples, who's accused of fleeing FHP Sgt. George "Andy" Brown, 54, after an attempted traffic stop near Lake City. Prosecutors said Brown, a veteran trooper and father of a teenage son, was killed while pursuing Platt's Neon when his Chevy Camaro patrol car went off a two-lane road and into a grove of trees. <p align="justify">Platt faces 10 charges for what prosecutors say occurred in Citrus County, including two counts of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon. <p align="justify">The state is seeking a life prison sentence. <p align="justify">During his opening remarks, Assistant State Attorney Rich Buxman said the case is about a man "who would stop at nothing to get away." He said Platt did everything he could to escape responsibility for what happened. <p align="justify">Among some of the state's evidence introduced to jurors was an audiotape of Brown's final dispatches, where the trooper requests sheriff deputies to help in his pursuit. Radioing in that he was in pursuit of a Dodge Neon nearing an intersection, Brown is asked twice by an emergency dispatcher for more information. <p align="justify">A third dispatch is sent out, using his patrol car number. <p align="justify">"Two seventy-one, can you give a color of the Neon?" is met with silence, when prosecutors believe Brown went off the road, spinning sideways and crashing the driver's side into a tree. </td></tr></table> <P><hr width="90%" align="center"></p> <p align="center"> <a class="link4" href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/misc/News/Related/Aug2005.htm"> FHP In The News August 2005</a> </p> <p align="center"> <a class="link4" href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/misc/News/Related/"> FHP Related News Articles</a> </p> <p align="center"> <a class="link4" href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/misc/News/"> FHP In The News</a> </p> <!--END PAGE--> <center> </td> </tr> </table> <!--END FHP CONTENT TABLE--> <!-- END FHP CONTENT --> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" bgcolor="#eeeeee"> <tr> <td bgcolor="#333366"><img src="p3_spacer.gif" alt="" width="1" height="2"></td> </tr> </td> </tr> <tr> <td bgcolor="#6b79a5"> <!--BEGIN FHP FOOTER TABLE--> <table class="dark" width="100%"> <tr> <td align="left"> <a class="FHPfooterlink" href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/misc/fhpstations.htm"> FHP Station Address & Phone Numbers</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; </td> <td align="right"> <a class="FHPfooterlink" href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/misc/Mission.htm"> Mission</a>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <a class="FHPfooterlink" href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/misc/SiteMap.htm"> Site Map</a>&nbsp;&nbsp; </td></tr></table> <hr width="100%" class="HR1"> <!--END FHP FOOTER TABLE--> <!-- Begin Footer Table --> <table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2"> <tr> <td width="156">&nbsp;</td> <td align="center" class="footer"><a href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/html/overview.html" class="footerlink" title="Link to About Us">About Us</a> | <a href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/html/privacy_policy.html" class="footerlink" title="Link to Privacy Statement">Privacy Statement</a> | <a href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/html/Disclaimer.htm" class="footerlink" title="Link to Disclaimer">Disclaimer</a> | <a href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/offices/" class="footerlink" title="Link to Office Locations">Office Locations</a> | <a href="http://www.flhsmv.gov/html/contact.html" class="footerlink" title="Link to Contact Us">Contact Us</a><br> Copyright &copy;2005 State of Florida <br> </td> <td width="156"></td> </tr> </table> <a href="#top"><img src="images/p3_spacer.gif" alt="Return to Top" width="2" height="2" border="0"></a><!-- End Footer Table --></td> </tr> </table> </body> </html>