SEE IT: Florida Man Throws Baby At Deputy Following Wild High-Speed Chase
INDIAN RIVER COUNTY (CBSMiami) – Dramatic new video has been released of a Florida man who led police on a wild high-speed chase in Indian River County right before he threw his infant baby at a deputy.
Deputy Jacob Kurby caught the flying baby as other deputies rushed in to arrest 32-year-old John Henry James III.
According to the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, a deputy spotted James in a Nissan Rogue driving erratically in Vero Beach on May 26.
Watch the video:
When he refused to stop, a 40-minute pursuit ensued, much of it captured on deputies' patrol dash cameras as well as a police helicopter.
The video shows him striking the front end of a detective's vehicle, dodging roadblocks, and avoiding an attempted stop-stick deployment. He ran over another set of stop-sticks, but they did not disable the car.
Eventually, he became boxed in, but bailed out and grabbed his 2-month old son who had been in the car with him and threw the child in the direction of a deputy.
The deputy was able to catch the child and take him to safety. The baby was not hurt.
James then tried to run but was caught. Deputies say he continued to resist arrest.
Once in the car, he complained he could not breathe and told the deputy he has asthma. He was taken to a nearby Fire Station where EMTs could check him out. He continued resisting, even while being placed on the stretcher to be loaded into an ambulance to go to a nearby hospital, according to deputies.
He was medically cleared from the hospital on June 1 after being treated for a pre-existing condition and was booked into the County Jail.
James is charged with two felony counts of aggravated child abuse, plus aggravated battery on an officer/firefighter/EMT, battery on the same, reckless driving, and resisting arrest with violence.
"You can't throw a baby at us and expect us to treat you with kid gloves," Sheriff Eric Flowers said, following the incident.
He is currently being held without bond.
