TARPON SPRINGS - Police and Pinellas County sheriff's officials used a helicopter and a police dog early Wednesday to search western Tarpon Springs for a wanted man who wrecked a car after fleeing a traffic stop.
Officers spent much of Tuesday night and Wednesday morning before dawn searching for Robert Craig Johnson, 45, of 1031 Mainsail Drive. Police did not find Johnson, who they say has an outstanding arrest warrant for violating his parole on a previous charge of resisting arrest with violence.
Still, they don't think he poses a danger.
Police Sgt. Jeffrey Young said authorities "don't feel that he is a threat to anybody out there."
Shortly before 9 p.m. Tuesday, police Officer Scott Osarczuk pulled over a white Chevrolet Johnson was driving for speeding on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, Young said.
When Osarczuk walked up to the car, Johnson "started acting very suspicious" and then put the car in gear, swerved and took off, Young said. As he pulled away, the car bumped Osarczuk, pushing him backward, but he was not hurt.
Johnson didn't get far before striking a fire hydrant near Safford Avenue and then running away, Young said. The car belonged to an unidentified passenger who was not charged.
Police later heard that Johnson might have caught a cab from a local bar to his home in the Westwinds subdivision near Meres Boulevard. When they pulled over a cab on Meres, Johnson bolted from it and ran into woods, Young said.
Officers watched the house and spent much of the night looking in the woods and swamp without success. When Johnson is found, he will face a charge of aggravated battery on a law enforcement officer and traffic charges in addition to the violation of parole, Young said.
Anyone with information is asked to call Tarpon Springs police at (727) 938-2840.
