May 22, 2021- 1:20 p.m.
COCOA, FL —A man was arrested in Volusia County after deputies said he stole two Cocoa police cars and then led authorities on a multi-county chase. Officials said it started when Cocoa police were called to check out a report of a suspicious person on I-95.
During that investigation, the person, deputies later identified as Xavier Javern Cummings, managed to get into a marked patrol car and took off. Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood said that officers in Cocoa tried a pit maneuver, which sent the car into a wooded area.
Officers tried to get Cummings out of the car, but said he was able to run away and jump into a second Cocoa police car that was running and unlocked.
“The suspect and the vehicle were in the wooded area just off the highway. As officers attempted to take the suspect into custody, he fled, jumped into another Cocoa patrol vehicle and continued north,” a statement from the Cocoa police department said.
Cummings drove north on I-95 with multiple agencies giving chase as he crossed into Volusia County. Authorities used stop sticks to bring the chase to an end in the Oak Hill area.
The chase led to a brief closure on northbound I-95. Cummings faces a slew of charges including armed burglary of a conveyance, escape, fleeing or attempting to elude law enforcement, two counts possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, two counts of grand theft firearm, two counts of grand theft motor vehicle, and driving while license suspended.
