A motorcyclist is accused of leading a high-speed chase through three counties at speeds up to 130 mph. A high-speed chase that resulted in the man and his female passenger in the hospital before his arrest.
The chase began late Sunday about two miles north of Otter Creek in Levy County, Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Alan O. Harrison said.
The trooper said he spotted a motorcycle traveling 81 mph while headed north on U.S. 19 in a 65-mph zone.
Harrison and others said they chased the motorcycle north on U.S. 19 out of Levy County into Gilchrist County and then into Dixie County. During the chase, the man attempted to allude the police officers by reaching speeds up to 130 mph.
Harrison said the motorcyclist lost control about a mile south of Cross City. The driver was trying to evade several other law enforcement officers by cutting across a grassy area to get to the paved Nature Coast Greenway Trail.
He and the passenger were ejected from the motorcycle, Harrison said.
The driver, Ronald Lee Blakeslee, 24, of Clearwater, and his passenger, Amy Nease Barera, 22, of Oldsmar, were taken to Shands at the University of Florida following the crash.
Following his release from Shands, Blakeslee was booked into the Levy County jail on charges of fleeing and attempting to elude, speeding, driving while his license was suspended or revoked, operating a motorcycle without the proper endorsement, and having a tag that was both expired and revoked.
