Published on Thursday, March 9, 2006
in the Lakeland Ledger(The Reporter)

Davenport Man Robs Polk Bank, Commits Suicide in Orlando After High-Speed Chase

DAVENPORT -- A Davenport man led state troopers on a half-hour long high-speed chase from Polk County to downtown Orlando after robbing a Four Corners bank.

The suspect, Ricardo Alan Nieves, 27, of Piano Lane in Davenport, later died of self-inflicted wounds after slashing his throat while troopers surrounded his car, troopers said.

The incident happened on March 1. Trooper Kim Miller, public information officer for the Florida Highway Patrol, said it began about noon that Wednesday when authorities from the FHP and the Lake County Sheriff's Office got word that a masked man had robbed the Bank of America on U.S. 27 in South Lake County -- making off with nearly $3,000.

Sgt. Christie Mysinger of the Lake County Sheriff's Office said Nieves robbed the Four Corners bank, just above the U.S. 192 exit, without using a weapon.

"The suspect walked into the Bank of America, went up to the teller and put a black bag on the counter," Mysinger said. "He told her to put all the money in the bag, and he also told her not to put any bait or die packs in the bag. He did not display or make any statements of a weapon, or imply it.

"Then he left. It was all said and done within minutes," Mysinger said.

Witnesses in the bank said Nieves disguised his face by wearing sunglasses and by either pulling a sweatshirt over part of his face or by wearing a scarf.

Nieves fled the scene in a gold Saturn station wagon, Mysinger said.

"They did find the money in a black bag in the vehicle at the end of the pursuit," Miller said.

When Lake County deputies got to the bank, an alert was issued to police agencies across the region, which FHP Cpl. John Britt heard as he was patrolling the area.

"When the suspect left the bank, he headed south on (U.S.) 27, and Cpl. John Britt saw him at the intersection of (U.S.) 27 and I-4," Miller said. "Cpl. Britt initiated the pursuit and tried to stop him."

Miller said Nieves made a U-turn on U.S. 27, and then got off at the Interstate 4 exit, heading east toward Orlando. Britt followed.

"They went from Polk County into Osceola, then into Orange County," Miller said. "From the time that Cpl. Britt spotted him to the time the pursuit ended, the chase lasted 33 minutes."

On the interstate, "The trooper told me they did reach speeds of 100 mph," Miller said, adding, despite those speeds, neither car got into any collisions with other vehicles on the road.

"Luckily a lot of the citizens got out of his way. That doesn't always happen," Miller said. "We were thankful people were keeping their eyes on the road."

Nieves eventually exited onto the East-West Expressway at State Road 408, then cut through local roads in the downtown Orlando area.

"There was one minor accident on a side street when the suspect went around this one woman, and then the trooper's car went around as well, and the back end of her car was scraped. No one was injured," Miller said.

Nieves continued driving away from downtown Orlando, heading east, she said.

"At that time we had three troopers behind the suspect's vehicle, and the sheriff's office helicopter was above them," Miller said. "They ended up on Michigan Street west of Westmoreland Avenue."

At that intersection, sheriff's deputies had put stop sticks on the road to flatten Nieves' tires. Miller said Nieves saw the sticks and tried to avoid hitting them, swerving to the left. A trooper following close behind him struck the rear of Nieves' car, causing it to spin around into a nearby parking lot.

"The suspect's vehicle and the deputy's vehicle were nose to nose," Miller said. "That's when the suspect rammed the vehicle head on in the parking lot. Then they stopped."

As troopers approached his car, Miller said, Nieves pulled out a long kitchen knife and began stabbing himself in the neck and chest. "Once he did that, the troopers and deputies tried to get into the vehicle, and had to break the window. One deputy received minor glass injuries from that," Miller said.

Nieves was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced death at 1:44 p.m.

Miller said Nieves is survived by a mother in Polk County, a brother in Windermere, his ex-wife and a son and a daughter.

She said the FHP appear to have followed the rules when it comes to high speed chases.

"This was a crime of violence, so it does meet our requirement for us to pursue," Miller said. "We do a full investigation of any pursuit when troopers are involved. Our preliminary investigation shows our troopers did follow protocol."