-
Robert Maracek
A man wanted by Osceola County authorities since 2001 for battering a law enforcement officer, was arrested in Citrus County on Monday after trying to run from law enforcement.
Robert Maracek, 47, was charged in Citrus County with aggravated battery and aggravated assault of a law enforcement officer, malicious harm to a law enforcement animal and fleeing from law enforcement with disregard from safety after deputies were able to catch arrest him.
Maracek never appeared in court in Osceola on Aug. 27, 2001, after he had been charged by the Kissimmee Police Department with battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting an officer with violence and leaving the scene with damage.
According to a Citrus County Sheriff’s Office report, at about 9:51 p.m. on Monday, a K-9 unit deputy stopped Maracek in a Ford Expedition for driving 62mph in a 55mph zone. When he was asked for his driver’s license, Marazek rolled up his window, put the vehicle in reverse and sped backward, hitting the deputy with the driver’s side mirror. And the chase was on.
While in pursuit, the deputy saw Maracek reach out his driver’s side window and begin dumping multiple bags of metal objects, which were later identified as objects designed to flatten tires, the report stated.
After making numerous turns, Maracek began driving in the oncoming lanes of a highway, narrowly missing hitting two vehicles. He then turned onto a side street, driving through people’s yards, smashing one fence, before crashing into a tree at a slow speed because some of the tires on his vehicle were flat.
Maracek got out of the Ford and tried to flee on foot, but the deputy released his K-9 partner, Riggs, who apprehended him. Maracek then began striking Riggs on his snout with his left hand and then placed his hands on the dog’s eyes and squeezed, “in what appeared to be an attempt to blind K-9 Riggs,” the report stated. He released the dog when other deputies arrived, but kicked the pursuing deputy’s feet and shins multiple times.
When Maracek was secured, he provided deputies with numerous different names including “Ryan Toomey” and “Kenneth Toomey.” He was finally identified through fingerprints. Deputies could not find a valid driver’s license.
Investigating Maracek’s vehicle, deputies found that the license plate was counterfeit and the Ford had no registration. Inside the vehicle, deputies found drugs and a hand-held police scanner.
Maracek was additionally charged with operating a vehicle without a driver’s license; vehicle not registered; leaving the scene with property damage; throwing a deadly missile; giving a false name to law enforcement; unlawful use of police communications; having a counterfeit license plate; and possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia.
He was jailed on a $72,000 bond.
