Morris

Two suspects wanted for fleeing a retail theft on Tuesday were arrested on Thursday, but not after one rammed a pair of police vehicles, fled traveling in the wrong direction on busy roads, and was finally caught by an Osceola County Sheriff’s K-9 after a romp through a swamp.

On Thursday, Osceola detectives received information from the Polk County Sheriff's Office which helped identify James Darren Morris, 28, of Orlando, as the suspect involved in the incident at a Walmart in Kissimmee in which he was fleeing a retail theft and his girlfriend, Sarah Kathryn Thomas, 23, of Haines City, intentionally rammed a deputy’s vehicle.

Thomas

While searching for Morris, who has an extensive record of grand theft, drug charges, and probation violations in Florida and South Carolina and is on felony probation for grand theft through May 2015, detectives observed a red Ford Taurus at the intersection of Osceola Polk Line Road and Lake Wilson Road that had damage consistent with the damage to a similar red Taurus involved in Tuesday’s Walmart incident, spokesperson Twis Lizasuain said.

The vehicle was registered to Thomas but was driven by Morris. According to the arrest report, deputies attempted make a traffic stop but Morris fled onto Osceola Polk Line Road. Two deputies used a tactical maneuver to block in Morris, but he rammed the deputies’ vehicles in order to flee again, this time onto eastbound Interstate 4.

Morris continued on I-4 until he crossed the median and drove westbound on the eastbound State Road 417 ramp against oncoming traffic. He continued driving in oncoming lanes on I-4 and State Road 429 for nearly eight miles before exiting onto U.S. Highway 192, and fleeing on foot inside the Orange Lake Resort into a wooded area with deep standing water.

Three deputies and detectives pursued Morris into the waist-deep water and battled to apprehend him, with one going underwater in the struggle that included Morris head-butting another. A K-9 unit was brought in to also help subdue the suspect, which was finally achieved after Morris struggled some more, grabbing a deputy’s arm and pushing it toward the dog’s mouth.

For his roles in the incidents over two days, Morris was charged with two counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer, resisting with violence, aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer, grand theft, violation of probation, reckless driving, operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license and fleeing with disregard to safety. He was booked into the Osceola County Jail.

Detectives brought Thomas in for questioning and she cooperated with the investigation. Based on her statement, she was arrested and charged with fleeing and eluding and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for her role in Tuesday’s incident at the Walmart. She was booked into the Osceola County Jail.