The Florida Highway Patrol shed some light on a chase on John Young Parkway from State Road 528 to U.S. Highway 192, then west toward I-4, where an arrest was made when the driver of a GMC truck crashed into a fence trying to enter the interstate.
Kais Mahmoud Kaheel, 28, of New Port Richey, was arrested on charges of grand theft of a motor vehicle, fleeing and eluding an officer with disregard of others, fleeing and eluding after crash involving property damage, driving without a license revoked for habitual traffic offender and leaving the scene of the crash.
Here are some details from FHP's arrest report:
An FHP trooper originally saw a white truck headed westbound on 528 without tail lights. While trying to run the tag the truck began to swerve, and made contact with the front right of the patrol vehicle. When pursuit with lights and siren started, the driver made U-turns at the International Drive exit and through the median to head back eastbound, existing onto John Young Parkway south.
According to the report, the trooper, "Made several attempts to plead with the violator over the loudspeaker by asking him to "pull over!" as well as "Its not worth it!" The violator ignored my commands and continued to run several red traffic signals while swerving back and forth all over the roadway. During the pursuit, the violator collided with several vehicles on the roadway and fled the scene of each crash with no regard for public safety."
The violator collided with a box truck at the intersection of John Young Parkway and Town Loop, then left the scene of the crash while fleeing from authorities. Additionally, the violator was passing on the shoulder on westbound 192, approaching the intersection of Siesta Lago Drive, when he collided with a vehicle causing sideswipe damage. A trooper was able to spot an Ohio license plate hanging on the rear right corner of the truck's trailer portion, which back stolen and did not that of the truck.
The driver crashed through the chain link fence of an abandoned property next to the eastbound Interstate 4 on ramp, ending up in a parking lot where he crashed into a brick wall and fled on foot. He was quickly apprehended a brief search. Kaheel's driving record showed multiple suspensions on his record. Burglary tools -- "Based on my training and experience these tools in combination are used to beak into vehicles," the trooper wrote into the report -- were found, and the Florida license plate belonging to the truck showed it was stolen on Wednesday.
According to troopers, Kaheel admitted to being under the influence of fentanyl and advised he was dizzy. Mr. Kaheel was taken to Celebration Hospital, then transported to the Osceola County Jail to be processed on his charges.
Kaheel's record showed three prior charges for eluding in 2022 and 2023, and his license has two active revocations for 60 months from 2021 and 2023.
