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Broken headlight leads him to jail

A man who wouldn't stop for police crashed, was shocked with aTaser and arrested.

By Mallory Simon
Published June 10, 2006

Police wanted Heriberto Cerda to stop. He was determined not to. Thus began a low-speed chase that moved south into Pinellas County.

Cerda kept driving even after all his tires were blown out, according to a Pasco Sheriff's Office report. He drove his silver Isuzu Rodeo on the rims for several miles, finally slamming into a concrete wall at Old East Lake Road and Keystone Road.

Even then he didn't stop resisting arrest, the report said. Deputies shocked him with a Taser. Cerda ripped the barb from his body. Two more jolts, and Cerda kept flailing, the report said.

Finally, deputies hit him with pepper spray and placed him in handcuffs.

The 47-year-old Tarpon Springs man may have evaded the police for a while, but he never went above the speed limit. According to the report, Cerda didn't pull over because he was driving with a business only license. That offense would have likely meant only a citation. But now Cerda faces an array of charges in Pinellas and Pasco, including two DUI charges, three counts of aggravated assault and fleeing and eluding police.

Cerda tried several times to ram his Isuzu into the patrol cars, the report said. He was being held in the Pinellas County Jail on Friday.

[Last modified June 10, 2006, 08:52:24]