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3-county chase ends in one death

After speeding from Citrus to Pasco County, the driver crashed, authorities say.

An attempted traffic stop early Monday near downtown Inverness turned into a police chase through three counties, ending when the driver crashed on Interstate 75 in Pasco County and died, police said.

The chase started about 1:30 a.m. when an Inverness officer tried to stop Allen Marion Roberts, 38, who lives in the Citrus County community of Hernando. Police said he was driving with a headlight out.

Roberts led the officer south on U.S. 41 in Citrus County to State Road 50 in Hernando County, where he turned east.

Hernando sheriff's spokesman Lt. Joseph Paez said five of his agency's units joined the chase on U.S. 41 north of Brooksville.

By then a Citrus County Sheriff's cruiser was also giving chase.

Roberts turned east on SR 50 in excess of 70 mph, Paez said. At I-75 Roberts headed south and began to hit speeds between 70 and 100 mph in his 1992 Nissan sport utility vehicle.

As he entered Pasco County, his speed reached 80 to 100 mph, officials said.

Just north of Blanton Road in Pasco, Roberts' Nissan was on the inside lane passing a semitrailer truck when the Nissan drifted onto the median.

It crossed both southbound lanes and rolled over several times onto the west shoulder, hitting several large trees.

Roberts was ejected and died at the scene.

The Hernando Sheriff's Office will review whether its deputies followed protocol. According to Paez, initiating a chase is based on a deputy's judgment. Supervisors can countermand the chase call if "the risk of the chase outweighs the dangers to the general public," said Paez.

Inverness police Chief Lee Alexander declined to comment Monday, but has said in the past that officers should weigh the risk of a high-speed chase against the severity of the crime the suspect is accused of committing.

Inverness police and Citrus sheriff's units were at the rear of the caravan chasing Roberts through Hernando County and were preparing to call off the chase when the crash occurred, said Gail Tierney, a Citrus sheriff's spokeswoman.

Roberts worked as a general builder at a cattle ranch nearby. He was divorced and the father of four children.

State records show nine arrests on Roberts' record, dating back to an aggravated battery in 1985. He also was arrested on charges of battery, violation of probation and restraining orders and stalking in 1995 and a DUI from the Inverness police in 1997.

His most recent arrest was a DUI in 1998 in Marion County.