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Driver escapes fiery SUV, police

The chase started when he made threats, Tarpon police say.

By MIKE DONILA, Times Staff Writer
Published August 27, 2007

Tarpon Springs police say Arthur Jones had quite a day.

It began with threatening his ex-girlfriend with a gun, continued with an escape in which he almost ran over two police officers, progressed to his getaway car bursting into flames, and finally ended with a crash and a footrace from the scene.

Police were still looking for him Sunday, and warning people not to approach him.

Arthur Jones III, 26, reportedly got into an argument with his girlfriend, who lives on Keystone Drive in Tarpon Springs. Some type of verbal confrontation took place around 4 a.m. Saturday, and it escalated later, said Sgt. Barb Templeton.

Jones left, but came back to the house around 10 a.m. Sunday. At that point he pointed some type of handgun at his former girlfriend. A cousin and a friend who were also at the house at the time tried to stop him, but they were threatened, too, police said.

Jones, whose last known address was in New Port Richey, left in a black sport utility vehicle as police arrived. Police say he tried to hit an officer in a squad car and then swerved at another officer, who had stepped out of his vehicle to order him to halt.

As he headed east on Keystone Drive, the Isuzu inexplicably caught fire. Jones leaped out of it as it crashed into an embankment covered with trees and brush. He fled on foot.

Tarpon Springs police called in their K-9 unit and another from the Pinellas Sheriff's Office because the dogs tire quickly in the heat. Sheriff's deputies also used a helicopter to look for Jones.

Jones' track, however, ended at a body of water northwest of Keystone Road. Investigators said they suspect the SUV he was driving may be stolen, although it had not yet been reported missing.

Jones has been in trouble with the law before when he was charged with resisting arrest, Templeton said.

Sunday night, police were preparing an extensive list of charges, including attempted murder, kidnapping, aggravated assault, possession of crack cocaine, fleeing and eluding, armed burglary and grand theft auto.

[Last modified August 26, 2007, 23:34:58]