Pasco: Arrest puts halt to chase

Arrest puts halt to chase

Authorities described the driver as a "madman'' after he led them on a wild chase that covered more than 10 miles.

By TAMARA LUSH

NEW PORT RICHEY -- He drove his buddy's Corvette with an open bottle of Budweiser between his legs, he hadn't had a valid license in 11 years and he knew there were two warrants out for his arrest.

So when Matthew Korkes saw the blue lights in his rear view mirror Sunday morning, he quickly decided not to stop.

"Once I knew I wasn't pulling over, I said to hell with it," said Korkes, 30. "I might as well take 'em on a chase."

That chase put several lives at risk, authorities said. "He was a madman, he really was," said Lt. Robert Ferguson, a Florida Park Patrol officer who chased Korkes nearly 10 miles.

Shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday, Korkes and a friend, Christina Tofanelli, went to buy a 12-pack of Budweiser and a newspaper at a store on Ridge Road that is allowed to sell beer earlier than most stores.

Korkes had borrowed his friend's white 1979 Corvette, and was driving the speed limit -- "when you drive without a license, you tend to do the speed limit," Korkes said -- until two Pasco County sheriff's deputies spotted him with the open beer in the Ridge Road area.

Under Florida law, it is illegal to have an open beer in a vehicle on a road, and if caught, a person can be fined up to $500.

Korkes knew that Pasco sheriff's deputies had two warrants out for his arrest; both were for failing to appear in court for traffic citations.

And there was another reason why deputies were interested in the car: the tags on it were expired -- and registered to another Corvette.

Korkes sped up, and lost the deputies. They decided not to pursue because it was too dangerous and they hadn't seen Korkes endanger anyone.

He made his way onto Lake Road, driving north.

Little did he know that Ferguson was on duty, driving south on Lake Road on his way to work. As a lieutenant for the criminal division of the State Department of Environmental Protection, Ferguson has full arrest powers.

Ferguson remembers seeing an elderly woman in a pink jogging suit walking north on the grass in the southbound lane. The next thing he saw was the white Corvette swerve from the other lane toward the jogger.

"She jumped away," Ferguson said. "If she hadn't moved, she wouldn't have made it."

Ferguson turned his cruiser around; under DEP rules, an officer can chase a vehicle if the officer sees a driver put another's life at risk.

The two cars sped up Lake Road, with the Corvette sliding on the curves and gathering speed. Lake Road eventually turned into Onconee Road, and the Corvette tried to make a right turn onto Moon Lake Road -- but slid off the road into the grass and dirt. Ferguson said several cars and two motorcycles had to swerve to avoid the Corvette.

Ferguson said that Korkes tried to ram his cruiser with the Corvette.

Korkes said he didn't want to hurt anyone. He said he never saw the elderly woman on Lake Road.

Ferguson chased Korkes onto Moon Lake Road, with Korkes driving nearly 120 mph, Ferguson said. The two cars then turned east onto State Road 52, then turned south onto U.S. 41.

"It felt great," Korkes said. "My adrenaline was flowing."

Pasco County Sheriff's Deputy Steven Eastmond was at the county garage on U.S. 41, and heard about the chase on the scanner. He drove onto U.S. 41 to stop traffic, and Ferguson and Korkes came barreling down the road.

Then the white Corvette slowed down, which made Ferguson nervous. "I thought for sure there was going to be a shootout," Ferguson said.

Korkes slowed to a stop in the middle of U.S. 41 and put both hands out the window. Ferguson and Eastmond got out of their cruisers, guns drawn. They ordered the pair on the ground.

The female passenger was not charged. Korkes was handcuffed and charged with -- among other things -- two counts of aggravated assault with a vehicle, reckless driving and possession of cocaine -- authorities found a pipe with crack residue in the car, a report said. He is being held on an $15,376 bond at the county jail.

Korkes said that he would have continued the chase, if it wasn't for one thing.

"The only reason why I stopped was because I ran out of gas."

-- Times researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

-- Tamara Lush is the police reporter in Pasco County. She can be reached in west Pasco at 869-6245 or (800) 333-7505, ext. 6245. Her e-mail address is lush@sptimes.com.